The Open Door
by foolishangel87
Summary: Sam wanted to know her. She didn't want to be there. After her mother died, she was forced to move in with the half brother she barely knows. And in doing so, falls into the conflict between Vampires and Werewolves. O.C/Jacob
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

_It wasn't supposed to be like this. I wasn't supposed to be like this. My life wasn't supposed to be like this. But it was like this. And no matter how much I wished it wasn't, nothing was going to change how my entire world got turned upside down. Nothing could take back the loss, the confusion, the secrets, or the pain. It was apart of me now and always would be._

_I sometimes wonder how it came to this point. How had things changed so much that I didn't even recognize myself anymore? I didn't have an answer then and I didn't have one now. It's just something that was how it was. Something I had to adjust to and embrace like family. But that concept was another obstacle I was still struggling to overcome. It was a hurdle I wasn't sure I would ever be able to get over. I had been stuck in my anger and sadness for so long that I had put up walls around my heart to keep almost everyone out, including family._

_Although I don't know if I could consider Sam Uley my family, even though he was._

_He was the older half brother that I barely knew about and vice versa. He wasn't in my life and I wasn't in his life. Until now that is. Even though we had the same father, Sam and I hadn't really ever been around each other all that much. We had seen each other maybe twice in my entire 17 years, so we were basically strangers. All I knew about him was what I knew about myself. Our father had left him and his mother when Sam was really young. And then when I was 5, our father did the same to me and my mother. So Sam and I had that in common, but that didn't make me like him more. In fact, I hated him. To this day, I'm not quite sure why. Maybe, it was because, even though Sam knew about me and knew where I was, he never tried to find me. He never tried to know me or even show that he cared. He had a sister out in the world and yet he seemed determined to pretend that I didn't exist. That is before everything changed once again._

_After my father abandoned my mother and me, it had been just the two of us most of the time. My mother did her best to provide for me and that usually meant working double shifts at whatever job she had at the time. I was left alone at our tiny apartment to fend for myself until my mother got home. It was tough living that way. I didn't have family around or many close friends, so I quickly got used to being alone. And shortly after I turned 17, I really got used to being __alone. _

_I never really thought of what the future would be like and I never thought that I would be facing that future without my mother by my side. But that's exactly what happened. One day I had her with me and the next day she was gone. I remembered every detail of that last day. She had left early one morning to go to work, so early that it was still dark out. I had been sitting at the kitchen table doing a report for school and drinking tea when she walked in the room in her favorite navy blazer and matching skirt. She had hugged me goodbye and said she loved me. And that was the last time I saw her. When she didn't come that night, I called her friends to see if she had forgotten to tell me she was going out with one of them. And when no one had seen her, that's when I felt a ball of ice settle in my stomach. Something was wrong, I could feel it. And before I could even report it to the police, the doorbell rang and there were two cops standing there. And before they even opened their mouths to speak, I knew they were going to say that she was dead. I could see it their eyes. And I was right. My mother's body had been found in an open field by some apartment complexes. She had been shot twice in the chest and once in the face and then dumped out in the open. No one knew who had done it and the police had no leads. The day had begun with life and ended in death. Nothing would ever be the same and I was forever changed by my mother's death. My world had gone dark after that day._

_After her death, I had stayed in our apartment with one of her friends while funeral arrangements were made. I somehow was able to make it through school, using it mostly as an escape from my thoughts. But when the day came to lay her to rest, I found that nothing could have stopped my thoughts. Trying to ignore it was the worst thing I could have done. Because when I was standing there looking down at her closed coffin, all of the pain that I had kept at bay hit me all at once. And yet couldn't find the will to let myself cry. I felt the pressure gathering behind my eyes, wanting to be let out But it didn't. So all that emotion was boiling within me and I didn't know how to let it out. So I just stood there, dressed in black and stared blankly at the ground. It wasn't until the cemetery was emptying and I was being ushered towards a car that I looked up and locked eyes with my brother._

_Sam had been standing at the back of the crowd while the funeral had been going on. I never even noticed he was there until the very end when he had walked over and embraced me. I didn't know how to react. I had barely seen Sam at all since knowing I had a brother, and here he was hugging me at my mother's __funeral. So I just stood there with my arms at my sides until he pulled back. I don't how he knew about today or who had contacted him, but there he was Absent from my life until today. Never visiting, or calling or even writing. Only showing up when tragedy struck. Great timing Sam._

_I hadn't wanted to stick around to hear him talk but he ended up following me back to the apartment and I didn't have a choice but to listen. Sam had heard about my mother's murder when one of her friends had found his number amongst her belongings and called him. And after talking with his fiancee, Sam had arrived here to tell me that I was going to be moving to Washington to live with him. Being as that I had no family and no way of supporting myself, I didn't really have much of a choice. But that didn't stop me from hating the idea and then hating Sam himself. I didn't even say anything and just got up and went to my room where I locked myself in there for the next 24 hours. I wasn't ready for things to change again. I wasn't ready to just pick up and leave the apartment I had lived in most of my life. But when Sam had left to return home and my mom's friend had come back to stay with me, I knew it was real. The only bright spot was that this friend was willing to stay with me for the next few months while I packed and shipped my things and said goodbye to the few friends I knew here in Baltimore. I knew I wouldn't keep in touch and that was fine with me. I didn't want any part of my old life coming with me._

_But there were a few things that I couldn't leave behind me. Some things I couldn't out run. These things were always going to be with me. They were as natural to me as breathing was. Natural as it was to rise my arm. But to the outside world, it was scary, witchy, crazy. I wasn't normal by any means. I never had been. Maybe that's why I never had many friends growing up. They were never the type of people who I could tell this to. They were understanding to a point, but when it came to things outside the realm of normal, I knew if I were to tell them what I could do, then they would drop me like a hot potato. So I never said anything. I never told anyone. Not even to my mother. Although sometimes I think she suspected something wasn't quite right with me. But i never confirmed it. I felt even she wouldn't understand. I didn't want to tell anyone._

_And I doubt I ever would. I had to move forward with my life. And that began with moving to Washington and facing my brother._


	2. The Arrival

**Chapter 1 The Arrival**

17 year old Quinn Owens sat alone on the airplane that was bringing her closer to her new home and leaned with her head against the window as her sky blue eyes looked through the glass at the ground that lay far beneath her and the other passengers. She had been stuck in this position for the last 5 hours and hadn't had any urge to move at all. And she had lost all desire to talk as well. Since getting up that morning and being taken to the airport in Baltimore, Quinn hadn't spoken a word to anyone. Not even to the people who checked her ticket and showed her to her seat, or to the stewardess who kept coming by with beverages and little bags of snacks. No words had left her mouth in over 24 hours. It was the longest she had gone without speaking. Not that she had ever really been that much of a talker, but she had never been this quiet before. She just didn't know what to say or what she was feeling. And that's probably why she wasn't talking.

Quinn sighed and looked across the wing of the aircraft and stared at the fluffy white clouds that seemed to go on forever. She wished she could escape from her seat and go running across that whiteness and not have to face what was waiting for her at the end of this flight. If she could, she would have pushed it off further and avoided having to deal with this. But it had been three months since her mom's death and it was time to pick up and leave. Sam was waiting for her in Washington to take her to his house on the reservation that he lived on. She had overheard her mom's friend talking to him on the phone about the travel and pick up arrangements for when she finally was moving. Then the phone had tried to be passed off to her, but Quinn had refused to take it. She didn't want to talk to Sam and she certainly didn't want to live with him in whatever strange place he was living at. But she had no choice. This was simply what was supposed to be taking place now that she was alone. And she had to get used to it.

_But I don't want to get used to it. I don't even know him._

Even after he had shown up at the funeral service to tell her what was going to happen, Quinn still didn't know all that much about him. Although she was partially to blame. He had called every week to try and speak to her but she never answered or called him back. He still tried though, constantly sending her short letters, describing the life and scenery in Washington so she would feel more comfortable. But it didn't matter what he did. She wasn't going to feel comfortable there. In a place that wasn't her home and surrounded by people that weren't her family. It just wasn't going to happen.

Quinn finally sat up in her seat and stretched her legs and arms. She was going to be arriving soon and she was no where near ready for this. She didn't know what was going to happen or what she was getting into. She just had to jump into this full steam ahead.

* * *

**2 hours earlier:**

"Sam? Sam what are you doing?"

"Nothing. Just looking at the letter I got about Quinn's arrival." Sam smiled at his fiancee Emily as she walked into the room and handed him a cup of coffee as she sat down next to him. "She's going to be here in a few hours."

"Are you nervous?" Emily questioned, taking the piece of paper from him and looked over it herself.

"No." He tried to shake his head and pretend that he actually believed what was coming out of his mouth. He didn't want to say what he was really feeling because he felt weakness in that. He was supposed to be the strong one when it came to situations like these.

"Sam Uley, I've known you for a while now. And I know when you are lying and you are lying right now. So please just tell me what is really on your mind." Emily stated, touching his arm in a way that always managed to calm him down.

"To be brutally honest, I am nervous. I have no idea how this is supposed to work." Sam admitted, gripping his short black hair. "I mean, I don't even know her. She's a stranger to me."

"She's your sister. She's been through a lot and she has no one else in the world except for you." Emily reminded him, the kindness of her personality radiating through her words. "I know you're worried about how she is going to fit in and that's only natural. But I also know you would never turn away family in a time of need. And she needs you right now."

"She's 17 years old. She doesn't really need me. She barely even spoke to me after the funeral." Sam grumbled, thinking back to 3 months ago when he had seen his little sister for only the 3rd time in his life. It still surprised him at that point that he had a sibling. Even after all these years, he never really had given her much thought.

"I'm sure she just needed time for the shock to wear off." She told him with a shrug. "Think about it Sam. Her mother was killed suddenly and then just days afterward at the funeral, she sees you for the first time in years. That's going to throw anyone for a loop."

"I know that, but even after all that, she still wouldn't speak to me. She never returns my calls or letters. I don't know anything about her. So how am I supposed to make this easier for her?"

"I really don't know. The only thing I can say to you is just be there for her. And just love her. That's what she needs and that's what you can give her." Emily explained, running her fingers through his short hair. "It's not going to be easy, but this is family. And you will find a way to make it work. You've been through bad times before, so I know you can handle this."

"I wish I had as much faith in me as you do." Sam smiled, leaning over to kiss her on the forehead. "Thank you for being so cool about the situation. I know this wasn't what you had in mind when we got together."

"Oh stop it. You are too hard on yourself sometimes." She said, lacing her hand with his. "I love you and when I took you on, I knew I would be taking the bad and the good. The calmness with the troubles. I knew that and I still wanted you. And when we are married, we'll be family and Quinn will also be my sister. And even now, you can lean on me. You won't be going through this alone."

"Have I told you you are amazing?" Sam laughed loudly when she rolled her eyes at him.

"Not today." She replied, her pretty smile reaching up to her dark brown eyes. "But trust me, I know."

"That's good." He said, glancing down at his watch. " Her plane lands in like 90 minutes. I guess I should start getting down to the airport."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Emily asked, squeezing his hand tightly. He was grateful for her being by his side through all this. He was a lucky man.

"No, I should really do this by myself." Sam replied with a heavy inhale and stood up and wrapped his arms around his fiancee. "If the gang comes by, tell them they have patrol duty. And to behave themselves. I don't need them goofing off just because I'm not here."

"You worry too much. It will be fine." Emily assured him, patting his arm. "Now go. Traffic is going to suck."

"Alright. I'll be back in a few hours." And then he was out the door to go meet his little sister. Still doubting whether he would be able to do this.

* * *

"Have a nice day young lady."

Quinn stared at the flight attendant who stood by the door waving at the passengers, as she passed by her and walked into the airport and stood in the middle of the lobby and watched the other people walk around her towards their destinations. She didn't know where to go from here. All she knew that Sam was supposed to be meeting her somewhere close by the gate, but she couldn't spot him any where. She shrugged and started walking again, not caring whether she found him or not. At this point, she could have been picked up by a stranger and she could care less. But then again, as she barely knew her brother, that statement was still true.

She looked out the windows to the gray clouded skies and watched the rain drip down the glass panes. This weather was so dreary and depressing the longer she looked at it. She didn't understand how people could want to visit this place, let alone live here. And she was supposed to call this home? This would never be home. Home was back across the country. Not in this rainy, cold town...

"Quinn." Came a deep sounding voice coming at her from her left and she turned with her head up to meet the eyes of her brother who was standing only a few feet away from her. She dropped her carry-on bag on the floor by her feet and just stood there while he walked over and pulled her into his arms. And much like the scene at the funeral, she didn't raise her arms to hug him back. She didn't feel the need to.

"How was the flight?" He asked, leaning down to pick up her bag and tugged on her arm to have her follow him towards a baggage claim. He had his back to her but when she didn't answer, he looked over his shoulder and said. "Didn't you hear me?"

Quinn just shrugged and rolled her eyes before moving past him and going in the direction the signs were pointing at. She could hear Sam sigh and follow after her, his longer strides quickly overtaking her short steps and he reached the baggage area. He waited until she was going for her suitcase before he reached passed her and grabbed the handle easily. She had already sent everything else over here, so once they had this bag, they could leave right away. Quinn followed her brother through the rest of the airport and out to the parking lot, taking care to tuck her loose sweater tighter around her, surprised at how chilly it was here. And what was more surprising was the fact that Sam didn't even seem to notice, as he was only wearing a t-shirt and cut off jeans. She supposed it was because he was used to it, but she still found it strange.

Sam tossed her suitcase into the back of his truck and then held the door open for her and she walked right passed him and got into the passenger seat without looking at him. She watched him walk around the front of the truck and then get in behind the wheel, glancing at her as he turned the key in the ignition. It wasn't long before they left the airport parking lot and were speeding down a semi busy highway. Quinn once again, fell back into silent mode and wound up in the same position she was in when she was on the plane. She propped her elbow up on the arm of her seat and set her chin in her palm while she stared out the window. She watched the scenery flash by her face, going from city sights to more forests filled, mountainous areas. It was nice to look at but it didn't make her forget how painfully loud the silence was in that truck. They must have been driving for 30 minutes before Sam decided to speak again.

"You know, it's good that you're here. It will give us a chance to get to know each other. I just wish it was under better circumstances." He muttered and she turned her head slightly to see him glancing at her. She stared at his face for a few seconds, trying to find the urge to answer him, but it just wasn't there. So she looked down at her lap.

"I think you might like it here once you get settled. You just have to be careful, you know with the woods and all. There are wild animals." He tried again, his voice sounding strained as he struggled to break the silence. She couldn't look anywhere but at her hands which were clasped in her lap. She could feel the tension lying heavily in the air between them, but she had no idea what to do about it. She wasn't sure what to talk about or even if she could talk to him. It was just weird.

"Um, Quinn." Sam asked in a way that forced her to look back up at him. His dark eyes bore down on her and it wasn't until she was looking at him that she realized he had pulled over to the side of the road. He had pivoted his entire body until he was facing her completely. "I'm not really good about dealing with stuff like this. I never have been. I usually leave that to someone else. But I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you need me."

Quinn stared blankly at his face, wondering if he was being sincere. There was an easy way to find out. All she had to do was concentrate and eventually the answer would come to her. But she decided against it. She hadn't used that side of her in a long time and she wasn't going to start now. So she simply turned back to the window, and allowed her long dark brown hair to fall over her face. Sam eventually put the truck back in drive and started down the road again. But the rest of the drive, she could feel his eyes on her.

* * *

"So this is where our humble abode is." Sam announced as he pulled into the clearing in front of his 2 story house and turned off the truck. He looked over at Quinn, not expecting an answer since she hadn't spoken the entire ride back from the airport. He saw her looking, not at the house, but at the trees surrounding it. Like she wasn't expecting it to be so far out from a main road. But that's how he liked it and he enjoyed living that way. "Come on, let's head inside."

Quinn just nodded and climbed out of the passenger side and slammed the door shut. After he grabbed her suitcase from the back, he waved at her to follow him up the short steps of the porch. Her tiny feet, barely made any noise noise as she walked up the wooden planks and hurried after him through the open door and into the house. He set the suitcase at the bottom of the steps and then looked around, wondering where his girl was. "Emily? We're back."

"I'll be right there." She called out to him, her voice seeming to come from far away, when in actuality she was just down in the cellar. And sure enough, within a few seconds of him speaking, she appeared through a door, wearing a smile on her face. She first walked over and hugged him, making sure to kiss him quickly on the mouth before pulling away and turning towards the small girl standing behind him. "I assume you're Quinn. I'm Emily, your brother's fiancee. It's nice to meet you."

Quinn surprisingly reached out when Emily extended her hand for a handshake. It shocked Sam, since she hadn't reacted very much to him at all. But at least she was responding to Emily. Once their hands met and locked together, Quinn frowned slightly, immediately looking down at their fingers. She looked back up at Emily and shook her head slowly like she was disagreeing with herself. And then she let go, pulling her arm back to wrap around herself.

"Not a bigger talker, huh?" Emily asked, smiling at her easily, as if to somehow try to make them more comfortable around each other. "That's ok, I'm sure you will break out of your shell once you get used to us."

Sam looked between his fiancee and the girl that was his sister and silently shouted at himself to say something to make this whole situation less awkward. But nothing came to mind. So the three of them just stood there uneasily. Emily was fighting to keep the smile on her face and he was resisting the urge to run out the door. He wasn't sure if he could do this. He knew he had to, but he was majorly doubting himself.

"You know, you're probably tired." Emily piped up, breaking the silence. She caught his eye and winked, showing that she understood what he needed to do. And bless her heart she was trying her best to give him a way out. "Why don't I show Quinn to her room so she can rest."

"Yea, that's uh, that's a good idea." He stuttered, shooting her a grateful look when Quinn wasn't looking. He watched Emily pick up Quinn's suitcase and beckoned her to follow up to the second floor. His sister did so, very silently stepping up the staircase without even looking back at him. He sighed deeply, relieved that he would be able to get away and didn't waste another second before he shot back out the screen door and jumped down the porch steps to the ground. And without breaking a sweat, he felt his muscles bunch together and he exploded out of his clothes watching the fabric fly around him in tiny shred as he bounded away into the forest.

* * *

"So we left everything in the boxes. We didn't want to touch anything in case you had certain places to put them." Emily told her as she opened a door at the end of the hallway and flipped on a light. Quinn walked into the room and set her carry-on bag on top of a pile of boxes that were stacked against the wall.

Quin looked around the room and took in what was before her. The bed room was a good size. A lot bigger then the one she had been used to. There were two windows on one side of the room that looked like they would let in a good amount of sunlight if there was such a thing as sunlight in this state. A comfy looking bed was sitting in the far corner of the room, right up against the walls, which was how she liked it. There was a set of drawers and and a desk also in the room, along with a nightstand by the bed. There appeared to be a good sized closet from what she could see, so that was another good point.

"Now, the bathroom is the first door on the right in this hallway. The room I share with Sam is around the corner. So if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Emily told her, nervously looking around the area. Her hands were twisting around her brown hair drawing attention to her disfigurement and Quinn tried not to look at the scars that covered half her face. She was sensitive to people like that and knew if it had been her, she wouldn't want people staring at her like she was a freak. "So I will leave you alone now to get settled."

Quinn tried to smile, but she couldn't manage it. And Emily seemed to understand and just nodded as she headed to the door. Quinn took a few steps further into the room until she had reached the window. It had started raining again and she watched the drops splash on the glass. She sighed and closed her eyes hard, trying to calm her racing thoughts. She had just managed to grind her mind to a halt when someone spoke.

"Hey Quinn." It was Emily, she had stepped back into the doorway and was looking at her with her sympathetic look on her face. Quinn turned her body around to face the other woman. "I know we don't know each other, and I know you and Sam don't really know each other either. But he is happy that you are here. It means a lot to him."

Quinn bit her lip and nodded, leaning back against the window panes and staring out into the wet forest, wondering when things were going to stop being so painful.


	3. The First Day

**Chapter 2 The First Day**

_It was just a dream. It was a just dream. It was just a dream._

Quinn kept repeating this to herself as she lay there in bed with her eyes squeezed shut tightly. She refused to open them, because she didn't want to have to face reality just yet. But she knew it was inevitable and that eventually she would have to get out of that bed and meet her new life head on. And as much as she wished she could just stay there and pretend she was back home, there was only so long that she could do that. Besides, the longer she hide away, the more awkward it would be when she finally did emerge. So that was why she forced open her sky blue eyes and sat up, looking around the room and feeling the heaviness hit her in the chest. The boxes holding all her possessions came into view as did the foreign room with it's bare walls and strange furniture that wasn't hers. The room wasn't hers and this home wasn't hers.

"I'm not going to cry. I am not going to cry." She muttered to herself as she threw back the sheets and set her feet on the floor. She ran her hands through her long dark brown hair and walked across the wooden floor to the window and pushed back the black curtains she had hung up, the only thing she had unpacked from the night before. She was pleasantly surprised to see the sky was free of gray clouds and the sun was shinning down on the house. It was only now that she actually took in her surroundings and saw the beauty of the reservation that she had not paid attention to on the drive here. The mountains were off in the distance and stuck between them and the house were miles upon miles of trees. It was a pretty sight to look at, and it almost made her heart stop aching. Almost but not quite.

"Quinn? It's Emily. Can I come in?" Came a voice which had been preceded by 2 short knocks.

"Yea, it's ok." Quinn called out quietly, turning away from the window as the door creaked open and Emily appeared in the doorway holding a tray with a plate of food and a glass of juice on it.

"I was downstairs cooking when I heard you walking around up here and I thought I would bring you some food." She explained, walking across the room and setting the tray down on the desk. "I figured you wouldn't want to face breakfast with your brother just yet."

"Thank you." Quinn managed to articulate. She wanted to smile to show her appreciation, but her face just wouldn't work that way. Emily didn't seem to care though and took her answer as appreciation enough.

"You're welcome." Emily replied, leaning against a pile of boxes and watched as Quinn walked across the floor to the desk and sat down.

"Is he still here?" She asked, reaching for the enormous sized muffin and began breaking it into pieces.

"Your brother?" Emily asked, and when Quinn nodded, she continued speaking. "He was when I was down in the kitchen, but he had some things to do today, so he is most likely on his way out."

"Ok." Quinn responded, looking down at her plate.

"Did you want to talk to him? Because you can probably still catch him before he leaves."

"No no, it's fine." Quinn insisted, shaking her head rapidly. "I don't really want to talk to him. In fact I would rather avoid him entirely."

"Do you really dislike him that much? He's not a bad guy, Quinn." Emily told her, a frown settling on her face.

"I don't know him. I've only seen him in twice in my life before he showed up at my mother's funeral. And he knew I existed, knew where I was, and didn't ever come on his own to see me. Not once in all those years. And now I'm expected to just forget that and treat him like a brother?" Quinn asked, feeling the pressure build up behind her eyes as she spoke more now then she had in over a day. "He may be my half brother, but he's still a stranger to me."

"Maybe you should be saying this to Sam." Emily suggested, now looking at her sympathetically. "I mean, I'll be here to listen too. Just because I'm engaged to your brother, don't feel like you can't come to me to vent. Because you can. I just think that maybe you should talk to him too."

"I don't think that's going to happen." Quinn mumbled, propping her elbow on the desk and setting her chin in her hand. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Ok, that's fine." Emily said, standing up straighter and turning towards the door. "I'll be downstairs if you need me."

"Hey Emily?" Quinn spoke quietly, watching the older woman stop and look back. "I'm sorry that I wasn't talking yesterday. I know you probably thought it was weird, but I just couldn't do it."

"It's alright. You've been through a lot. So I understand." Emily nodded, brushing back her hair. "Just know that we're here for you. Sam included."

"I'll try to remember that."

* * *

"Ok, Sam, what was with the 411? Why are we here?"

"Because I told you to show up here, that's why." Sam grumbled, walking into the clearing and spotting the other members of his pack sitting around against the trees waiting for him.

"Yea I get that, but for what reason?" Paul questioned, never one to back down from anything. "There's got to be a reason, there's always a reason. You never just call all of us together unless something serious is going on."

"He's got a point. So something must be wrong." Jared piped up, shaking his head. "What's the crisis now? Did the Cullens get themselves into trouble again?"

"Yea, do the blood-suckers require our help?" Embry laughed along with the others.

"For once this has nothing to do with the Cullens or any Vampires." Sam announced, making sure to use the Alpha tone in his voice to let them know he was serious. "This is about Quinn."

"Ah, the mysterious half-sister, you've hardly ever mentioned." Paul nodded in agreement with him. "What about her?"

"Well she arrived yesterday." Sam explained, grimacing in remembrance of the day before. He hadn't remembered ever seeing anyone that...empty before. The way she looked at him, or more accurately looked through him, like he wasn't even there. She just didn't give off any kind of emotion. It was a strange thing to encounter someone like that. Here he was, this tall, broad, muscular guy and she was this tiny, short , teenage girl and yet she made him feel uneasy. He attributed it to the fact that they didn't know each other.

"I assume it didn't go well." Quil stated with a shrug.

"It went fine." Sam retorted, his nostrils flaring. "She just doesn't talk to me."

"Well, she did just get here, so can you blame her?" Embry pointed out.

"I kind of figured she would be happy around family." Sam said, honestly believing what he said.

"Can you even really be called family?" Paul asked, earning a glare from Sam. "What? Is no one going to say it? You don't talk about her. You've hardly ever mentioned her, so barely any of us remember that you have a sister. So how can you even call each other family when you don't know her?"

"That's not my fault." Sam insisted, not liking that his mistakes were being thrown in his face even though he knew he was at fault. "It's not."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I kind of agree with Paul." Jared replied hesitantly. "You knew about her all these years, and you still rarely talked about her. And we all know you only met her a few times. How else are you supposed to treat her?"

"She's my sister. That should be enough." Sam scratched his head thoughtfully. "Why isn't that enough?"

"Because this isn't a situation where you can nail down a plan of attack." Embry interrupted. "There's no war going on. No enemy coming to get us. No one is dying or getting hurt. There is no big scary monster that needs to be destroyed. She's not the enemy, Sam."

"Then why do I feel like I need to do something?"

"Because for the first time, you don't have control over the problem."Quil told him. "This is a first for you. You just have to deal with it as it happens."

"I don't like this." Sam growled. "I don't like this at all."

"Well tough. Deal with it."

"Easy Paul. Remember who you are talking to." Sam reminded him, turning his gaze on the shorter pack member.

"Sorry." Paul apologized, turning his attention to the ground. "So, when you we get to meet the little sister?"

"I was thinking some time later today. After we run patrol." Sam instructed his group. "You should all know what she looks like and her scent so if she ever gets in trouble, then you can find her."

"Should be mentioning this to Leah and Seth?" Embry asked.

"No. I will speak to them myself some other time." Sam answered, still feeling a sting at the mention of his ex. He never truly forgot what happened between them.

"What about Jacob?" Quil wanted to know.

"No. Do not involve Jacob in this."

* * *

"Wow. It's beautiful out here." Quinn said quietly to herself as she looked around at all the trees surrounding her and sighed easily. It was the most calm she had felt since being here.

After Emily had left her room that morning, Quinn finally began to eat the breakfast that had been in front of her and as she did, she looked around her room at all the boxes that were waiting for her to be unpacked. It was a little hard to deal with, knowing all the reminders of her old life were in those cardboard containers waiting to be brought out into her new life. She didn't want to deal with it just yet. She wanted to leave them where they were, frozen in time until she was ready. And today wasn't that day. So when she was done eating, she had pulled on a pair of jeans and a red tank top and brought the tray downstairs to the kitchen. It was then that she saw the forest through the open window and informed Emily that she was going out for the day. She went back upstairs to grab her black zip up hoodie and her messenger bag and then she was out the door and disappearing into the trees. She hadn't thought about following close to the outside perimeter of the forest and ended up going further in then she first anticipated. But she wasn't afraid. After what she had been through, there wasn't much that could scare her now.

Quinn continued hiking through the lush and green forest, lifting her face occasionally when the sun broke through the tree branches overhead. There was no noise at all coming from miles around. Only the sound of her feet hitting the dirt floor broke the silence. She climbed up short hills and hopped over fallen tree stumps that looked like they had fallen down long ago. Everything looked like it was covered in this velvety looking moss, making it appear almost magical. It had a surprisingly calm effect on her. She felt like she was in a different world. Different from the one she was in back at the house. Only this world she chose to walk into. She wasn't being forced. And she felt a strange relief wash over her the longer she walked. She was away from that house full of strangers and by herself. The only way she felt comfortable. She didn't have to put up a front when she was out here amongst the trees. She didn't have to worry about how people looked at her or what they were thinking. All she had on her mind was the beauty of this forest. Her mother would have loved this place.

"No no, I can't think about that right now." She told herself as she walked into a small clearing that had a nice view of the blue sky overhead and a giant spot of sunshine shining down onto the dirt. She walked into the middle of it and just stood there with her eyes closed for a minute. When she opened them again, the trees seemed to grow more serene and mystical. She sighed again and looked around, spotting a tree with a slight indent that looked like it would fit the concave of her thin back just so.

"This is perfect." Quinn said, dropping her bag at her feet and then kneeling down to pull out the small towel she had brought with her and spread it over the ground before sitting down. She just sat there for a minute and then went into her messenger bag and pulled out the leather bound journal her mom had bought her for her last birthday. Quinn ran her hands over the hard cover, feeling the softness of the material on her finger tips and opened it, watching as her handwriting appeared on the pages in front of her. She let the words sink in before flipping to a new blank page and gently picked up the pen that she had stored there the last she had written, which happened to be 3 months ago, right after her mom had died. It had been a long time and it was only now that she felt the strength to begin writing again.

_Dear Journal,_

_I can't believe it has been this long since I last wrote anything. I used to write everyday, but ever since mom died, I just haven't felt the urge to write or do anything at all. I feel like I'm stuck somewhere between my old life and my new life. It's a dark place, and it's a cold place. I don't feel much of anything now. Once in a while I will get hit with an urge to cry or scream, but it never happens. And at this point, I doubt it ever will._

_So much has changed in the last few months. My head still spins just thinking about it. It's a little crazy to look back and see how things are different. I never imagined that I would lose the one person who had been there my entire life. I never thought that the brother I hardly even knew would come out of the woodwork and try to save the day. Especially after ignoring me most of the 17 years I have been alive. I just don't know what to think about Sam..._

* * *

Emily was sitting on the couch doing paperwork when she heard some commotion going on outside and she was about to stand up and seeing what was going on, when Sam walked through the door. An instant smile spread across her face when he came over and took a seat next to her. "Hey, what's with all the noise?"

"Oh sorry about that. It's just the guys horsing around outside." Sam explained, his face looking tense as he spoke. "I told them about Quinn."

"Ah and that's why you brought them home." Emily finished, knowing where he was going with this. "You wolves are just too damn curious for your own good."

"That's what makes it fun." Sam shot back, bringing her hand up to his face and kissing her palm. "Besides, I figured, it would be good for them to meet her so they could see what she looks like and know her scent in case something happens in the future. And because she doesn't know anyone else here besides you and me."

"That's a good idea, but you know she can't be told everything. So just be careful how close she gets to them." Emily reminded him of the rules.

"I know that." Sam replied, shaking his head. "I don't want her getting involved in any of this stuff. And since most of the members of the pack have imprinted, there's no way any of them can tell her about us or our world."

"That's true." Emily said thoughtfully.

"So is she still upstairs? Has she come down at all?" Sam questioned.

"Well, she did come down to the kitchen, but then she left." Emily said hesitantly, not sure if she should say what happened.

"So she is back in her room." Sam stated, starting to rise, but she grabbed his arm and made him sit down.

"Actually, she's not upstairs."

"Well where is she?"

"She kind of said she was going for a walk after breakfast and then she was disappearing into the forest."

"And you didn't stop her? You let her go off by herself?"

"I'm sorry, but she was actually talking this morning and I was just so relieved that she was interacting at all that I didn't question it." Emily explained, watching the tense look return to his face. "Don't worry, she doesn't know these woods, I doubt she has gone that far. I don't think she is lost."

"That's not what I'm worried." Sam grumbled before jumping to his feet and racing out the door.

* * *

"I can't believe this place." Quinn whispered, her voice barely reaching her own ears as the sound of waves crashing nearly drowned out the sound.

After her time spent in the forest, she had gotten back to walking and within 20 minutes, she had followed the sound of the ocean and reached the edge of the tree line and there in front of her was the water. She hadn't wasted any time in running down the path to the sand and walking across it still in her sneakers. Once she was halfway across the beach, she simply stopped and just looked. Watching the waves splash and send droplets of water into the air was captivating. There was a peacefulness from being this close to the ocean. She couldn't remember the last time she had been to a beach. It must have been when she was very young, because she hadn't gone after the age of 6. She must have loved it then, because she felt this old sense of joy fill her up as she looked across the water. It felt like that emotion had triggered a memory that had been lying dormant in her heart for a long time.

Quinn immediately dropped her bag and towel on the sand and kicked off her shoes. She unzipped her hoodie and threw it down on the pile while she rolled up her jeans to her knees and then took off towards the shoreline. She slowed down when she got closer to the water, not sure what the temperature of it was going to be. She hesitantly stepped forward, allowing the water to lap at her toes, finding it to be pleasantly cool. She moved further into the water until the waves were crashing against the middle of her skins. The coolness of the water took her breath away, but it was in a good way. She felt like a kid again in that moment. Something she hadn't felt like in a while. She wasn't quite happy . It was more like contentment. It may be short lived, but she was grateful that she had it at all.

Quinn had just turned around to face the beach when she felt like she was being watched. Her eyes immediately turning to the forest edge and scanning the trees for something. Her focus landed on a distant looking figure standing at the edge of the woods. She could tell it was something male but she didn't know who. He was tall and tanned with short black hair and he looked to be her age or maybe older. She didn't know if Sam had pointed him out on the drive here or not. But then his eyes met hers and she found herself immediately forgetting everything she had just thought and her pain was briefly halted as she stared at this good looking boy. He seemed to have had the same reaction, except on a much larger scale. His dark eyes went wide and his mouth fell open like he was shocked. She didn't know how it happened, but she found herself coming out of the water and walking across the beach, her eyes unable to look away from his face. He too seemed to unaware of where his feet were carrying him and before she knew it, she was standing back where she had left her things and he had meet her there right in the middle of the beach.

She looked up at him, he was taller then her, and even better looking up close. Quinn didn't know what was going on in that moment, or what kind of force it was that was bringing them together like this, even though they were strangers. But she didn't question it when he reached out his hand and she accepted it, not knowing the connection she had just forged by intertwining their hands together. Not knowing she had sealed not just her future but his future as well.

"Hi, I'm Jacob Black."


	4. The Imprint

**Chapter 3 The Imprint**

"Hi, I'm Quinn Owens."

After introductions were made, Jacob couldn't find anything else to say and it seemed that neither could she. All he could do was stand there, still holding her hand in between them, and stare at her. He didn't even feel connected to his own body anymore. Like gravity had taken over and he was floating in the air, weightless. Every thought, every memory, every heartache he had ever felt, was now gone. All that mattered was this strange girl in front of him, but he couldn't call her a stranger. Not after feeling their hands touch. It was that moment that told him, she was forever going to be a part of his life. They were made for each other. He felt it with every fiber of his being. She was the missing link in his existence. The other half of his soul. She completed him wholly in these first few seconds of knowing each other. She managed to heal him entirely. Something he didn't think would ever be possible after hurting over Bella Swan for so long. That pain had been so sharp and throbbing that he was sure it would always be there. He didn't think he could ever possibly feel as strongly for anyone as he did for his now vampire best friend. That is until the moment he stepped out of the forest and locked eyes with this blue eyed girl. And then all the heartache he had experienced over Bella had dissipated and was replaced by a new feeling. A stronger, more intense feeling. Something that he had seen happen to the others who were like him. Something he thought would never happen for him. He had been walking within those trees just thinking how he was going to go through life in constant pain and things were never going to change And then, just like that, they did change.

_Holy cow. This is it. This is the moment. She's the one. She's my imprint._

Jacob felt a child-like grin spread across his face. He knew he probably looked like an idiot to anyone who might see them, but he could care less. All that he could focus on was her. Her beautiful face, framed by her dark brown hair. And those eyes. Those piercing sky blue eyes that had him entranced. It was amazing how easily he could lose himself in them. He wanted to stand there forever and look at her. He wanted to know everything about her. Who she was, what she was like. Anything and everything. Her life story. But there would be a time for that. A time where they would both know everything there was to know about each other. Right now, he just wanted to enjoy this first encounter.

_

* * *

_

_Oh my god. I can barely breathe. He is so hot._

Quinn felt her face burn as this thought entered her head. She wanted to pull her hand away from his, but she couldn't find the desire to do it. It felt too nice to end. And that confused her. She had never met Jacob before and it was weird to feel this instant attraction to a stranger. She had never really felt this way about a guy before. She had been on her fair share of dates, but never had something like this happened. There had never been a moment where she had felt instantly at peace with someone. It usually took her a while to feel comfortable with just friends, let alone members of the opposite sex. But looking up at Jacob was on a different level. She had never been more calm in her own skin then she was in his presence. She didn't know if it was too soon to even say that, but her heart was telling her it wasn't. It didn't matter what other people would say if she told them this. She knew it was right. And looking into his dark eyes, said he was thinking the same thing as she was.

"You're blushing." Jacob's deep voice stated, breaking her out of her thoughts and she was able to break her stare and look away.

"No I'm not." Quinn denied, trying to keep her eyes from looking anywhere but at his face. The ground suddenly seemed more interesting.

"Yes you are." Jacob smirked, touching his fingertip to her cheek and she felt her entire body flush this time. "See? I told you. Major blushing going on."

"Shut up. You don't even know me." Quinn told him, rolling her eyes at him.

"I have a feeling we will get to know each other eventually." Jacob replied, his carefree, happy grin touching her heart slightly. She had to bite down on her lip to keep from frowning. It wasn't that she was annoyed with him. It was due to the fact that he was the first person she had come across since her mom died that was able to get through to her and make her feel something other then sadness. It made her want to know more about him.

"Yea, strangely, I have to agree with that." Quinn told him, looking down at their hands, still frozen together in a handshake. She didn't know what to make of this. But something told her it would be alright. And she believed that.

* * *

"This is not happening." Sam said furiously, glaring at the sight before him on the beach. It had been a long 45 minutes of looking for his little sister and when he finally finds her down by the water, she was with the one person he wasn't expecting.

After Emily had told him that she had allowed Quinn to go off on her own, he had rushed back outside to inform his pack of what had happened. He immediately described what she looked like and ordered them to spread out and search for her. He couldn't have his sister wandering around the forest and beyond by herself. Not when this place was a hotspot for vampires and whatever else existed. He needed to find her and make sure she was ok. So he tore right into the line of trees to begin the search. He was tempted phase into his wolf form, but he decided against it. He couldn't risk Quinn seeing him when he wasn't looking and discovering their secret. So he had to do it the old fashioned way by walking and running like a normal human. He tried yelling out her name and then listening for a response but there was never anything. He had been searching the woods for the first 30 minutes without success when he was beginning to think the worst and getting worried. He walked further before an idea hit him and he decided to try searching down by the water. If she had been walking all day then there was a good chance she had discovered the beach. So he wheeled around and shot in the opposite direction, making it to the edge of the forest within 10 minutes. And when he emerged, he first felt relief when he saw her standing on the sand. She was safe and alive and he nearly felt his muscles collapse in gratitude. But then his relief turned to anger when he saw her joined by the hand with Jacob Black.

"Why is he staring at her like that?" Sam questioned as he glared down the beach at them.

Jacob was looking at Quinn like she was the only person in the world. Like he didn't see anyone else, or anything else around him. Sam was sure that that if he yelled out to Jacob at that moment then there was a good chance he wouldn't hear it. Jacob was utterly distracted right now. He had this look of pure, unfiltered bliss on his face. Like just standing there with her was enough to keep him happy the rest of his life. Sam frowned, wondering where it was that he had seen that same look before. That look of never wanting to look away from the person standing in front of you. And then it hit him. It was the same look he had seen on the looks of Jared, Paul, Embry and Quil when they were with their soul mates. It was the look Sam had been told was on his face when he first saw Emily.

"Oh no. Oh no no no no no." Sam snapped furiously. "Jacob Black did not imprint on my sister."

Sam wasted no time in getting down the path to the sand and racing across the beach towards the two of them. Neither Jacob nor Quinn saw him coming and it was only when he was standing at Jacob's side and separating their hands did Jacob seem to snap back into reality. He turned and his dark eyes narrowed down at him. "Dude what the heck is your problem?"

"You are my problem." Sam retorted, pushing Jacob by the shoulders so he was forced to stumble back from Quinn. "What do you think you are doing with my sister?"

"Sister? She is your sister?" Jacob asked in disbelief, looking around him towards Quinn. "Sam is your brother?"

"Half brother actually." Quinn corrected setting her hands on her hips. "Same asshole father."

"Interesting." Jacob replied thoughtfully before turning back to Sam. "So again, what's the problem?"

"You know what the problem is." Sam shot back, glaring at his former pack member so hard that Jacob seemed to realize what he was trying to articulate without actually saying it, especially when he couldn't say it out loud in front of Quinn. "Get away from her."

"Sam you're being ridiculous." Quinn piped up, addressing him for the first time since arriving here. "He didn't do anything. He just introduced himself."

"Yea, Sam you're being ridiculous." Jacob taunted, egging him on. Sam had to take a deep breath and calm himself before he lost control.

"We're leaving." Sam told his sister, spinning on his heels and grabbing her arm before pointing for her to start heading up the beach. "Go now."

"You're such an ass." Quinn grumbled under her breath as she leaned down to grab her stuff and then stomped away across the sand, leaving him and Jacob alone.

"I can't believe you Jacob Black." Sam said, shaking his head in disbelief at the younger man. This was bad. This was very bad. He hated what this new relationship was going to bring to his life. It now meant that his future was somehow intertwined with Jacob. And he didn't like that one bit. "You're going to stay away from her."

"You know I can't do that." Jacob replied, his face going serious as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "She's a part of me now. I can't be away from her."

"We'll see."

* * *

"You have a major short fuse, you know that?" Quinn asked her brother as he walked passed her and sent her a look that clearly said she was supposed to follow him.

"I don't want to discuss this. So respect that." Sam ordered, like she was one of his followers. "Just like I respected the fact that you didn't talk at all yesterday."

"Whatever." Quinn said, throwing the strap of her bag over her shoulder as she walked behind him glaring at his back as she followed.

She had gotten to the top of the path when she felt like she should turn around and look back. So she did. Her eyes landed on Jacob who was still standing in the spot where she had left him and he was watching them with a blank look on his face. But then his focus came to her, and a smile appeared across his lips. She stood there watching him. He was so beautiful to look at. Quinn didn't know why, but in that second when their eyes met again, she had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time she came across Jacob Black.

"Quinn. Get up here." Sam yelled at her from ahead.

"I'll be right there. Hold your horses." She shouted back, and then glanced at Jacob one more time before hurrying after her brother.


	5. The Sneakout

**Chapter 4 The Sneakout **

"I cannot believe you just took off into the woods. What were you thinking?" Sam growled at his little sister as they hurried through the trees towards the house. He had been trying his best to keep an even temper, but seeing them together and knowing what was going on was driving him crazy. He didn't need this right now.

"I can't believe you're making a big deal over it. It's just a forest, it's not like there are big scary monsters hiding in there." Quinn grumbled as she followed behind him. "I'm a big girl. I don't need you to come after me when I'm out."

"When you run off the first day you're here, then it's my job to make sure you don't get yourself killed." Sam retorted, stopping in his tracks. "And what the hell were you doing talking to Jacob Black?"

"Why do you keep saying it like that?" She asked, glaring at him.

"Like what?"

"Like he's a bad guy." She finished, crossing her arms tightly. "He just introduced himself and that's it. He was perfectly nice to me."

"I don't want you around him. So stay away." He ordered, starting to walk again with his hands in fists at his side. He thought the subject was closed but his little sister had to open it up again.

"Why can't I be around him?" Quinn demanded, her voice hitting at his back as she followed him.

"Because I don't like him anymore." Sam said furiously as he hopped over a fallen tree. He looked back at Quinn who was staring at him to continue. Sam gritted his teeth, trying to figure out a way to explain it to her without giving anything away. "He and I used to be friends. And now we're not."

"So I can't talk to him because you guys aren't friends anymore." She stated with a sigh.

"Yea, that's right." Sam answered back, walking over to her and grabbed her arm. "Jacob Black is my enemy and I am not going to have my sister fraternize with my enemy."

"First, it's half sister. And second, I can talk to who I want and you can't stop me." She scoffed, pulling her arm away and stomping ahead of him on the forest path. "You're not my father Sam. So stop ordering me around like you're my superior."

"I am so not cut out for this." Sam mumbled, shaking his head while he chased after her towards the house. Nothing more was said between them as they made their way through the trees. He was the one following her this time and it wasn't long before they reached the edge of the woods and saw the house in front of them. Quinn didn't look back at him as she hurried across the clearing and up the steps of the porch and pushed through the door. Sam sighed as he entered the house and saw Emily standing at the foot of the stairs waiting for him with a smirk on her face. He frowned and asked, "What?"

"Oh nothing." She replied, almost laughing walking passed him to the living room. She sat down on the couch and propped her elbow up on the back of it. "You yelled at her didn't you?"

"How could you tell?" He wondered as he leaned against the wall.

"Because she ran upstairs like a little girl who had just gotten in trouble and you walked in like a father who had had lost his temper." Emily pointed out, sounding amused by this. "What happened?"

"She was talking to Jacob down by the beach." he explained, his muscles tensing at the thought.

"That's it?" She questioned with a frown. "What else? Because you wouldn't look that pissed if it was just about that."

"He imprinted on her. I saw it with my own eyes." Sam growled, closing his eyes. He was trying not to think of it, but it was already stuck in his head. It made him uncomfortable to think of his younger sister in a relationship with Jacob. But then again, it made him uneasy to think of her having a relationship at all. He knew she was 17 but in his eyes, she was just a little girl. And he didn't want her to be jumping into a life altering relationship right off the bat. It was too soon for her. It didn't happen for Sam until he was a few years older then she was. So the fact that it happened this young made him want to hide her away until she was grown. "I told him to stay away from her."

"Do you know how ridiculous that is? You of all people should know that once you imprint, you can't be away from your other half. It's impossible." Emily reminded him.

"She's my sister. My family. Not Jacob's." Sam insisted, gripping his short hair. "She doesn't belong to him."

"She does now."

* * *

"He is such an ass." Quinn mumbled a few hours later as she tossed and turned for the millionth time that night. After getting yelled at by Sam, she had decided to skip dinner and lock herself in her room so she wouldn't have to see him. She spent that time unpacking some of her boxes and setting up her room so it would feel more like hers then just another room in the house. And then the sky turned dark and she could hear Sam and Emily coming up the stairs to go to bed and decided to halt her unpacking for the night and try to sleep as well. She had changed into a tank top and a pair of shorts and then climbed into bed, thinking she would fall asleep easily, but it didn't happen quite like that. The last two hours had been spent alternating between trying to sleep and doing something to make her sleepy with no success.

"As if this day couldn't get any worse." She grumbled, turning her head to look at her clock and saw that it was 1 a.m. She rolled over on her side and squeezed her eyes shut hoping that sleep would over take her. But something else entered her mind entirely.

_There were footsteps on the forest floor, the sound echoing slightly through the thicket of trees. Footsteps that belonged to a long pair of tanned legs. A pair of male legs._

_He was in no hurry to get to wherever he was headed. He took his time walking, as if he was enjoying the scenery along the way._

_His face wasn't visible, but there was a feeling of recognition in the air._

_He seemed to know where he wanted to go. And he was quickly getting there._

_The trees were becoming scarce and less close together. He must have been approaching the edge of the woods, because things were getting clearer. And then he stopped._

_He was looking up at something. A building, some kind of structure. And then, there it was. He was standing in the yard of someone's house. A house that looked strikingly familiar._

Quinn's eyes snapped back open and she felt her breath catch in her throat. She laid there for a second, just staring at the darkness of her room and feeling the blood pound in her ears. She reached over and turned on her light and then she threw back the covers on her bed and swung her legs over the edge so her feet were on the floor. She quietly tip toed across the room to the window that had her black curtains pulled over it. She yanked them back and then opened her window. She stuck her head out slightly and looked around the yard. The moon was full and hanging in the dark sky like a giant night light. It lit up the night and she was able to see across into the line of trees and it was when her eyes landed on a figure that she felt her heart trip over itself. He stepped further into the yard and the moonlight caught his face, causing her to pull back in shock.

"Jacob?" She called out softly, and she watched breathlessly as he hurried through the grass until he was standing below her window. He was wearing cut off jeans and a black t-shirt and even at night he was great to look at. She had to shake her head to get her focus back. "What are you doing here?"

" I was still thinking about earlier today when we met and I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk and it just led me here." He explained, tilting his head back to look up at her. "I take it you couldn't sleep either?"

"Nope. Still thinking about what an asshole Sam is." She scoffed, running her hands through her long hair, hoping it looked ok. "He told me I need to stay away from you."

"I figured he would say that." Jacob laughed, crossing his arms. "He said I had to stay away from you too."

"And obviously you didn't listen." She observed, leaning on her elbows in the window frame. She didn't understand why she wasn't freaked out by the fact that a guy she had just met hours ago, was now standing outside her window. But she wasn't. There was something in Jacob's face that was completely genuine.

"Are you glad I didn't listen?" He asked with a smirk.

"Maybe." Quinn admitted with a shrug and that brought a smile to his face.

"Alright I'll take that." Jacob said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Since you can't sleep either, you feel like doing something?"

"Right now? At 1 in the morning?" She asked, surprised at his request. "You want me to sneak out with you?"

"Why not?"

"You're crazy. And right. I'll be right down." She said, going to pull back into the room and shut the window but then she decided against it and stuck her head out again. "You know, Sam would most likely kill you if he found you trying to get me to sneak out."

"Yea. But that's what makes it so fun."

* * *

"Wow, this is poetic. The first time I sneak out with you, you bring me back to the place where we met. Interesting."

"Yea, it is." Jacob agreed as the two of them stepped onto the path that led down to the beach and began walking side by side across the cool sand. Quinn had paused to take off her shoes and held them in her hand as she moved beside him, her bare arm occasionally brushing against his. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as they strolled down the shore and stopped when they were about 30 feet from the water's edge. He looked at her as she stared out across the water and watched as the waves rushed up towards them. He fought the urge to reach out and touch her, knowing it was too soon for things to get physical with them. And he had a feeling that she needed him to be a friend to her right now and not a lover or boyfriend. It wasn't just logic for him to think that, it was his personality.

"So, I'm curious." Quinn stated, dropping her shoes and sitting down in the sand while he did the same. "Why does Sam seem to hate you that much?"

"Why do you seem to hate him that much?" He asked back, remembering the encounter between them. It was not a happy one.

"I asked you first." She pointed out, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Well, I don't know if he told you but we used to be friends." Jacob began, choosing his words carefully. When she nodded at him he went on. "We were never best friends, but we were pretty close. We argued a lot and never agreed on much. And that kind of was the reason we stopped being friends. He took offense that I didn't agree with him on something and he kind of ostracized me as a result of that. And we barely have managed to be civil since then."

"What an ass." She replied, biting her lip. "Has he always been that mean and that much of a jerk?"

"Not really. I mean, he hasn't always been the most sensitive, but he wasn't what I would consider a jerk." Jacob told her, watching as the wind moved strands of her hair back from her face. "My family has known Sam's family for generations. Did you know that?"

"Honestly, I don't really know that much about Sam or our background." She explained, sticking her feet in the sand. "All I know for sure is that we have the same father and he abandoned us when we were both young."

"Everyone around the reservation knows about Joshua Uley and what he has done." Jacob murmured, thinking about it. "Sam had to be an adult at a young age. Probably explains his toughness."

"Doesn't explain why he tried to pretend I didn't exist for 17 years." She groaned heavily. "He knew about me, but he only saw me a few times before I moved here."

"Yea, he did keep kind of quiet about you. I mean we all knew he had a sister but he never said what you looked like or what your name was." He explained, remembering all the whispers and rumors floating around about Sam's family. "Hence my surprise earlier when he stormed in."

"Yea, he kind of has a temper, that I'm just finding out about." Quinn sighed, setting her chin on her knees. "Let's not talk about Sam anymore."

"Ok, consider the subject changed." He agreed, waving his hands in the air. "So what should we talk about?"

"Tell me about you." She answered, unwrapping her arms and leaning back in the sand on her elbows. "I have a feeling that we are going to be around each other a lot. And it would be nice to know more about the guy I sneaked out with."

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything you want to tell me about."

"Ok."

For the next 20 minutes, he proceeded to tell her almost everything he could about himself. He told her about his family. About his two older sisters and his dad and briefly about his mother who had died years ago. He mentioned his friends and school. He talked about his interest in cars and mechanics. And even told her about the motorcycles he had once fixed up with Bella. Quinn seemed impressed by the fact that he had no fear at all about riding one of them and she said she would never get the courage to do what he did. He found himself almost blushing at her praise which she teased him about. He was comfortable talking to her. And it wasn't just because she was his imprint. She just was that kind of person. He could tell that even after only meeting her hours ago.

"I guess that is it." Jacob stated, finally pausing in his speech. Still find me interesting?"

"I'll get back to you on that."

"Son the I guess it's your turn to spill all your secrets." Jacob pointed out, grinning when she frowned. "Oh come on. I told you about me. Now you have to do that."

"Fine..."

* * *

"You haven't said anything." Jacob's voice interrupted her thoughts and Quinn rolled over on her side in the sand and faced him.

"I know. I'm trying to think about where to start." She told him, blowing air out of her mouth slowly. She liked the fact that Jacob had felt comfortable enough to tell her about his life and about himself. And she was struggling with whether she could do the same. There were just some things that she couldn't tell him. Or anyone for that matter.

"How about at the beginning?" He suggested, leaning back on one elbow. "What about your childhood?"

"Well, there's nothing too exciting there. I lived with my mother in Baltimore, in the same apartment my entire life. At least until now." She said, as memories began flooding her head. "Obviously my father wasn't in the picture so it was always just my mom and me. She worked most of the time to take care of me and I spent most of my time buried in schoolwork. I never had many friends growing up, I was kind of a loner and kids thought I was sort of weird."

"Oh yea you seem real weird." Jacob scoffed in disbelief.

"I'm serious. But it never bothered me. I never really felt like I needed anyone other then my mother. She was the only real friend I needed."

"What was she like?" Jacob asked curiously.

"Strong. Independent. Very opinionated." Quinn stated, thinking of her mom. She was all of those things. " She was never the kind of mother who was the bake cookies, and hugs all the time. That just wasn't her. She just was very focused when it came to our lives. She knew what had to be done to make sure we were taken care of. She had everything planned so we wouldn't have to worry. But even though she wasn't the soccer mom type, she still always made it known that she loved me. And I never doubted that."

"Wow. She sounds great."

"Yea." Quinn mumbled in agreement, looking down at the sand.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his eyebrows scrunching together.

"Who said anything was wrong?" She shrugged, tracing a line in the sand with her finger.

"Because you look kind of upset." Jacob pointed out to her and she knew he was spot on.

"It's just that talking about my mother is kind of tough for me." She explained, her voice wobbling a little. She felt that familiar prickle of pressure behind her eyes and she feared that this would be the moment she finally cried and it would be in front of a boy. But Jacob didn't seem to be like any other boy. "Do you know why I came here to live?"

"Not really."

"Well um, Sam came to Baltimore a few months ago and that's the first time I saw him in years." Quinn spoke slowly, swallowing hard. She rolled over on her back so she was looking up at the moon. She didn't want to look at him when she said this. "He came to see me at my mother's funeral."

"I'm sorry." Jacob whispered quietly, shifting in place awkwardly. His moved his hand out like he was going to touch her, but then he pulled his arm back and kept it to himself. "How did she die?"

"I don't really want to talk about that right now." She said, her lips shaking. "But that's why I'm here. I had no other family, so Sam stepped up and said I was coming home with him. So here I am."

"So why do you hate him so much?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Just by the look on your face." Jacob answered back. "He and I may not be friends. But he's not a bad guy Quinn."

"He is to me." She replied, turning her head. "Can we just drop this?"

"For now at least."

* * *

"The lights are still off. That's a good sign." Jacob said quietly as he and Quinn came out of the forest and back into the yard by Sam's house, breathing a sigh of relief to see that Sam had not awoken in the few hours they had been gone.

"Can you imagine what he would say if he were awake right now?" She asked, stepping over a tree stump as they made their way across the yard. "He would be so pissed off."

"Yup. And I would be a dead man right now." Jacob agreed, following her over the grass and towards the steps of the porch that he hadn't walked up in months. He watched her long hair swing as she walked in front of him and looked down past her small waist to her bottom half clad in only a tiny pair of shorts. He couldn't stop looking at her if he tried. She was just too beautiful to him.

"I should be heading inside, I've been out long enough." She mentioned, standing on the first step of the staircase and turning to look at him. She was slightly taller from standing on that wooden step, but still not close to his height. He was still looking down at her but that was ok. She didn't seem to mind. "Am I going to see you again?"

"That's up to you." He answered softly, knowing that even if she said no, he still wouldn't be able to go too long without seeing her.

"Then yes. I would like to see you again." Quinn told him before nodding backwards. "Good night."

"I think you mean Good morning." He corrected, and then his hand seemed to have a life of it's own and moved towards her face. His fingers brushed against her cheek, feeling her soft skin on his and then he stepped back. "I'll be seeing you."

Jacob watched her tip toe up the rest of the steps and then disappear behind the door and he was alone. He sighed to himself as he shot across the yard back into the forest. Something was different about this imprint. Different from every other imprint story he had heard about. Because after spending this night with her and learning about her, he had no doubts. She was different, because she wasn't just his imprint. She was more then that. So much more.


	6. The Questions and answers

**Chapter 5 The Questions and answers**

_"Is that her?"_

_"Yea, that's the new girl."_

_"She seems weird. She doesn't talk unless she's spoken to. And she sits alone in almost every class. What's her damage?"_

_"I know. I heard she is related to one of the guys on the La Push reservation."_

_"Then why is she coming to school at Forks?"_

_"Who knows. But I think we should steer clear of her."_

_"I agree."_

Quinn rolled her eyes as she made her way through the crowded hallways of Forks High School and blocked out the hushed whispers and not so quiet remarks that were coming in her direction. She had anticipated this reaction almost the instant she had stepped foot through the foggy glass doors of the high school earlier that morning. Ever since Emily had taken her here a few days ago, to register her for the rest of the year, Quinn had seen the looks the other students were giving her as she walked beside Emily. So when she finally started her first day, she had been prepared that she would be some sort of an outcast. She had never been the type of teenage girl who desired to be part of the popular group. And she never gravitated towards the loners. She just kind of floated between everyone around her, making friends with whoever she wanted. But then again, she never really could get down to the task of actually making friends. It just wasn't as easy for her as it was for the other students.

"Watch it freak." A smug sounding voice hissed at her and she felt herself stumble as a group of perfectly dressed blonde girls pushed passed her, causing her to drop the 3 textbooks she was currently holding. The almost identical looking girls didn't even look back or even offer to help, as they continued down the hallway. They were the exact kind of people that Quinn would never be friends with. Not that she wanted a lot of people in her world at the moment, but if she did, those girls would not be it.

"Oh this has been a great day so far." Quinn mumbled to herself as she bent down and retrieved her books. Once she straightened back up, she hurried off to find her locker again so she could dump some of her thing in there and then get out of this place.

It wasn't so much that school itself was bad because it wasn't. She actually liked school. Loved it even. She enjoyed learning and reading books and doing work that kept herself mentally busy. It was a good distraction from the chaos going on in her head. But it was the people that took some getting used to. The teachers were ok as far as teachers go. That hadn't been anything different, except for the fact that they seemed surprised at her intellect. It was like they weren't expecting a quiet student to be smart, so that was kind of amusing. But that's where the hilarity ended. Quinn couldn't remember the last time she had had a more horrible day of school then she had on this day. Every time she walked into a room, the talking ceased and all eyes turned on her. And they followed her as she walked and then when she took a seat in the back of the classroom. Like they had never encountered a new girl before. It didn't help that she didn't really interacted with the other students, but she didn't feel like putting effort into getting to know these people. They didn't seem like the types to accept her. And they didn't and they made it clear all through out the day. There was constant whispers and laughter going on about her oddness. Like how she only spoke when answering a question, or how she sat alone in class while the other girls and boys clumped together in groups. They didn't know what to make of her. So they either ignored her or talked about her. Neither option made her feel very good. But at this point, she could care less.

"So glad this day is over." Quinn said, zipping up her bag and shutting her locker with a clang before making her way towards the doors that led out to the parking lot. Emily had insisted on picking her up that day and Quinn was grateful for it. She didn't want to have to face more harassment on the bus or from walking home. She passed through the glass doors and stood there searching for Emily while the other students surged around her. She finally spotted her future sister in law parked at the far end of the lot and started making her way over to the truck. When she reached the vehicle and got in the passenger seat, Emily turned to her with a smile.

"How was your first day?"

* * *

"It sucked. That's how it was."

"That's too bad." Emily responded, grimacing at Quinn's answer and remembering how tough being in high school was. She herself had never quite fitted in so she understood Quinn's reaction very well when she had told her about the day. "But was there anything good about today?"

"Just the fact that it is over." Quinn said, brushing back her dark hair as she leaned against the window with a sigh. "I suppose the only good thing about starting school again is that it's a distraction and I don't have to think about my life."

"That I can understand." Emily told her as she drove down the wet main road of Forks. She glanced at Quinn out of the corner of her eye and felt immense pity wash over her for this small girl. As hard as it seemed that Quinn tried to fight it, Emily could still see the pain written in her blue eyes whenever she looked at anyone. It pained Emily because she so desperately wanted to help Quinn, who she already considered like a little sister. But she didn't seem to want to talk about anything ever. But that didn't stop Emily from trying. "Quinn?"

"Yea." The younger girl didn't look up from her staring.

"Do you need to talk to someone? You know, about everything that has happened in the last few months?" Emily offered hesitantly, not sure how well her concern would go over. "Because I'm here to listen if you need it."

"I appreciate that, but I can't bring myself to do that. It just feels weird."

"Why?"

"Because you're engaged to my brother. And you know I have problems with him. It wouldn't feel right if I vented about how much I hate him to his fiancee." Quinn explained with a shrug. " I don't want to hurt your feelings."

"You wouldn't hurt my feelings if you needed to yell at me about your brother. Just because he and I are going to be married doesn't mean I am just on his side. I'm on your side too. I don't always agree with Sam on everything and I get mad at him too. So don't worry about the circumstances. Just let it out. I would rather you do that then keep it in all the time." Emily replied, turning the steering wheel onto a dirt and gravel covered road.

"I'll think about it." Was the answer that came.

"OK, good enough." Emily answered, even though she was hoping for the girl to start talking. She sat back against the seat and watched the road go by as she drove. The trees were getting thicker and the traffic was getting less busy the further they went. Emily had her elbow propped up on the door and wasn't paying attention to anything until her eyes landed on two figures of in the distance. "Look over there. It's Jacob."

"What?" Quinn immediately sat up and her face became suddenly attentive as she looked across the road towards the distant tree line. "Oh yea. It is him. Who's that with him?"

"That's his friend Quil. Him and Jacob have been friends for years." Emily told her, watching as Quinn stared at the two boys but the 17 year old's gaze was really focused on Jacob. "He's a good kid , that Jacob."

"Really? Sam seems to really hate him." Quinn's head tilted to the side as the truck slowed down on the narrow road.

"Sam has his issues with Jacob which I'm sure you will eventually find out about. And Sam lets his problems cloud his judgment about what is true. Those two just seem to butt heads a lot whenever they come across each other." Emily said, grinning at the girl. She could see that there was something brewing there between these kids and it wasn't just due to the imprinting. It was something more. It was still in it's early stages, but Emily could tell that Quinn was feeling something for this boy. " But I know Jacob, and I have never had a problem with him. He's a good guy."

"That's good to know." Quinn mumbled, her face contorting as if she were trying to fight back a smile. "He's nice to me."

"Do you like him?" Emily wanted to know, and when Quinn's face flushed and she quickly looked down at her lap, the answer was already there.

"I don't know. Maybe."

* * *

"So your sister is here. Big deal. Is that any reason to insist on a meeting with me?"

Sam sighed and scratched his head. He knew that calling his ex girlfriend up was going to be inviting trouble but his wishful thinking had him hoping that it would go a different way. But now that he was standing there in the middle of the woods facing her, he knew that it was not the case. She had been sarcastic, snappy and just plain annoying ever since showing up. He wanted to just throw his hands up and say forget it, but he had a specific purpose in mind and in order to put it into action, he had to deal with Leah.

"I needed to talk to you about her and to do that we needed to meet." He said, sitting down on a nearby boulder. "I want you to help me with something."

"I'm not part of your pack anymore Sam. You can't just ask me to do something and then expect me to do it." Leah insisted, crossing her arms with a glare. "You're not my superior."

"I'm not asking you as an Alpha to help me. I'm asking as a friend." Sam answered with a sigh. "Please Leah. Don't make me beg."

"Fine." She relented, rolling her eyes before sitting down on a log across from him and shrugged. "So what is so dire that you need my help?"

"Well as I told you, my sister is here and she is going to be staying and I wanted you to know so she was on your radar in case anything happened in the future."

"Well you didn't even really need to tell me about her. The whole reservation knows she is here." Leah said, digging her heels into the dirt floor. "Is that why you asked to meet up? Because you want me to look after your sister?"

"That's partially the reason. But not entirely."

"Ok, then explain. Because now I'm curious."

"Alright here's the situation. A week ago when she got here, she wandered off into the woods and when I found her, she was on the beach talking with Jacob."

"Ah intriguing."

"Not really." Sam mumbled angrily, remembering that day and the way Jacob was looking at Quinn. "He imprinted on her."

"Yea, I know. Jacob told me." Leah replied, shaking her head. "So whats the problem?"

"He imprinted. On my little sister." Sam scoffed, kicking at the ground. "I don't like that."

"Well I didn't like that you imprinted on someone who I considered my sister." Leah snapped, her dark narrowing at him. "But it doesn't matter what I want or what you want. It's just what is. And you can't do anything about it."

"That's what I wanted to ask you about." Sam pushed on, ignoring her statement. "I want you to talk to Jacob."

"No..."

"Yes. I want you to talk to him and tell him to stay away from Quinn." Sam told her. "I know Jacob respects you, so he will listen to what you have to say."

"You know I can't do that." Leah shot back, looking annoyed. "You know there is nothing anyone can do once a wolf imprints."

"I don't care. I want him away from her."

"Sam, listen to reason." Leah grabbed his arm and made him look at her. "You of all people should know that once someone imprints, nothing in the world can keep them away from their other half. You know that. And you know that no matter what I say, Jacob can't be away from Quinn. It's impossible in every way conceivable."

"We will see about that."

* * *

Quinn was sitting at the table doing her homework when she saw through the window that Sam was approaching the house and he didn't look too happy. At first she thought to jump up and run up to her room before he entered the house. But then she decided against it and stayed where she was in the corner of the dinning room. She fell quiet, thinking that he wouldn't notice her if she didn't make any noise. So she focused on the textbook in front of her and went about trying to answer the questions that were assigned to her for that night and felt her muscles tense when she heard Sam stomp up the porch steps and then into the house, letting the door slam shut after him. He didn't even look at her as he walked by into the living room and she didn't try to put herself in his line of attention. She put her head down and started writing, trying to immerse herself in her work and it wasn't until a shadow fell across the page that she looked up to see an angry Sam looking down at her.

"You and I need to talk." He said, sitting down at the table across from her.

"Fine." She shot back, slamming her book shut and sat back in her chair. "Speak."

"I don't like your attitude." Sam pointed out, his stern face contorting.

"Well I don't like you."

"You are so disrespectful." Sam exclaimed, leaning forward and placing his arms on the table. "I'm your older brother. You should talk to me without that tone in your voice."

"Oh now you're my brother? Where the hell were you for the past 17 years, pretending that I didn't exist?" She snapped, her vision tingling slightly red from fury. Her hatred towards Sam had been boiling within her for years. "You ignored me almost my whole life and now just because I'm living here, you expect me to just forget about the past and accept you. Well that's not going to happen."

"Maybe you have a right to hate me, I don't know." Sam said, twitching his hands. "But whether you hate me or not, I still demand respect from you."

"Respect has to be earned and you haven't earned it yet." Quinn spat at him, not feeling bad about what she was saying. She had her own demons to deal with at the moment and Sam being part of that was making it harder. "I don't want to talk to you about this."

"Fine. But you will listen to what I have to say about Jacob Black."

"What about him?" Quinn questioned, her mind coming to a halt at the mention of the guy who had been on her mind for days.

"I want you to stay away from him." Sam said simply as if that sentence would make her do it.

"Well I'm not going to do that."

"I'm not asking you. I'm telling you."

"I don't have to stay away from him. He hasn't done any thing to me."

"I do not care. He is not someone I want to be around you."

"Just because you have a problem with him doesn't mean that he's bad."

"I'm not arguing about this with you." Sam grumbled, pushing back his chair quickly. "Just do what I say."

"No." Quinn shot back, standing up as well. "I'm not going to listen to you. Because the truth is that being around Jacob is the only thing that has calmed me down since I've been here. And I'm not about to let that go."

Quinn didn't wait for Sam to respond and walked passed him to the staircase and scrambled up to the second floor. She walked right into her room and kicked the door shut before collapsing on her bed. She wanted to scream but she managed to hold back. Sam was just so damn frustrating and she was ready to pull her hair out. She couldn't stand him or his hang ups. She hated being around him. He may have been family, but he didn't feel like it.

* * *

"Alright, enough of this. Tell me what is on your mind."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Jacob said, even though he knew exactly what his father was getting at.

"Come on Jake. I may be old but I am not blind." His dad said jokingly. "I know something is going on with you. And I'm just asking you to tell me."

"Ok fine I will tell you." Jacob relented, dropping down onto the sagging couch in the living room. "You know how Sam's half sister Quinn came to live with him and Emily?"

"Yea I knew that, but I didn't know that was her name." Billy replied, rolling into the room in his wheelchair. "Did you meet her?"

"Yea a few days ago on the beach." Jacob told him, smiling in remembrance of their first encounter. He hadn't been able to get her face out of his mind all week. She was in front of him when he was awake and behind his eyelids when he dreamed. She was comforting to him when everything else was in chaos.

"You like her don't you?" His dad asked with a smirk and Jacob knew instantly where this was going.

"Yea I do. But Sam makes it difficult for me to be around her. He is always trying to get me to stay away from her but I can't." Jacob explained, cracking his knuckles. "You see, I don't just like her. I imprinted on her."

"You imprinted?" Billy asked, his mouth hanging open in utter surprise. 'I didn't think that was going to happen to you so soon. Or even at all."

"I know. I thought the same thing. But I was just in the woods and came out to the beach and there she was. Like she was waiting for me. And it just happened." Jacob said slowly. "And I don't know why. But I feel like she is more then just my imprint. I feel like she would have been meant for me even if there was no such thing as imprinting."

"Then you got lucky. You got your imprint and your true love all in one. That doesn't happen for everyone like us." His dad pointed out, smiling brightly at him. "Are you happy?"

"Beyond happy."

"I'm glad to know that. You will have to bring her home one night." His dad insisted. "I would like to meet the girl that will one day be part of our family."

"Just don't say things like that in front of her. It might scare her off." Jacob instructed his father.

"You didn't tell her the truth did you?" Billy seemed shocked at this but not Jacob. After knowing more about her, he had his reasons for keeping his secrets to himself for the moment, but his dad didn't. "Why didn't you tell her? Now that she is your imprint, you can tell her everything."

"Right now, I can't do that. She's been through a lot in the last couple of months and I don't want to add more to her burden to have to worry about." Jacob responded slowly. "She and I also just met. And I want to give an ample amount of time before I unleash all this on her."

"And do you really want to hide all that when you could just tell her and it would be alright?"

"For now, it stays with me. There will be a time when I can tell her everything. But for now I want to protect her from this world."


	7. The Fights

**Chapter 6 The Fights**

"I'm so glad I decided to walk home." Quinn mumbled to herself as she strolled along the side of the road and the sight of Forks High School disappeared behind her. The silence and solitude was calming after the day she had.

She had hoped that school would have gotten better by now but that was just wishful thinking and it had done absolutely nothing. She had been in school for 2 weeks now and nothing had changed. She still sat by herself in every class and at lunch time, she was abandoned whenever she tried to sit down with a group of people. So most of the time she sat at an empty table while people continued to whisper about her. They seemed to be strangely intrigued by her and took the initiative to make comments on it. Sometimes even loud enough for her to hear. But they still kept their distance. She didn't mind it too much because most of the time she didn't even want to be around people. But considering her days were mostly occupied by school, it would help if she at least had one person to talk to. But that just wasn't the case. People either bullied her or ignored her completely. Quinn didn't know which was the worse outcome.

"You look like you could use a ride." Came a voice from her left. Quinn's head snapped up and she turned to see a car had pulled up alongside her without her realizing it. And what was more surprising was who the car and the voice belonged to.

"I'm assuming you're offering to drive me back to the hell hole called Sam's house." Quinn retorted, walking closer to the driver's side door where Jacob Black was leaning out of. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt that did his upper body plenty of justice. She felt her face burn as those thoughts repeated themselves in her mind. She would never admit out loud to this guy that she liked him but she knew she did. That much was obvious by now.

"Oh you are cheerful this afternoon." Jacob grinned, nodding to the empty seat beside him. "Get in and at least pretend to be happy about me doing this favor for you."

"I never asked you to." She shot back, trying to smile but she couldn't manage it as she walked around the front of the car and got in the passenger seat and slammed the door. She dropped her bag on the floor at her feet and turned her body to face the boy next to her. "Thank you for the ride."

"No problem. Gives me another chance to spend time with you." Jacob smirked that dazzling smile, causing heat to spread over her body and she had to look away when he began to drive.

"You must love the possibility of danger. Because you know if Sam caught us together there would be trouble." Quinn pointed out, settling against the seat, feeling more relaxed. 's ok. "I'm quite sure he would try and kick your ass."

"That's ok. I can handle Sam." Jacob told her, gripping the steering wheel tightly so that the muscles in his arms stood out under his skin. He turned his head briefly to look over at her and shrugged. "Besides, you would be totally worth it."

"Why do you always say things like that?" She asked, not sure what to make of his comments. She had never had a boy say what was on his mind so easily and then have her believe it. Everything that came out of Jacob's mouth was genuine and she wasn't used to that.

"Why shouldn't I say things like that?" He questioned, turning on to a dirt road. "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"I don't know. I just haven't had many guys in my life that are quite like you." She explained, biting her bottom lip. "Usually there is some other intention behind comments like that. But with you, I don't doubt your sincerity. I usually have my guard up. Just not lately."

"If it makes you feel better, I'm the same the way." Jacob replied, clicking his teeth. "I don't exactly open up to most people, so you should feel lucky that I have such an interest in you. Most people don't get that side of me. Only my dad does."

"You are interested? In me?" She asked, frowning slightly as the car came to a gentle stop and he shut off the ignition before turning to face her. "Why me?"

"Why not?" He threw back at her, placing his muscular arm across the back of the seat so his hand was laying just inches from her shoulder. "Do you really need me to explain why?"

"Maybe." She said quietly, feeling her breathing get heavy as she looked in to his dark eyes. She almost forgot where she was and went to reach out to touch his fingers. But she pulled back when another figure entered her line of vision. "Oh shit."

"What?"

"Sam's home." Quinn groaned, watching as her brother stomped down the porch steps and sprinted towards them. This was going to end bad. Very bad.

* * *

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Sam growled, feeling his entire body begin to shake as he began marching across the yard towards the car parked by the trees. He didn't even stop to think before yanking open the door and grabbing Jacob by the arm. "I thought I told you to stay away from her."

"And I thought I told you to never touch me again." The younger man snapped, climbing out of the car and drawing himself up to his full height. "So stop trying to start trouble."

"I wouldn't have to start anything if you would just stay away." Sam said furiously, pushing at Jacob's shoulder, making him stumble back. He saw Quinn get out of the car behind them and he immediately pointed towards the house. "Get inside. Right now."

"Hey, don't talk to her like that." Jacob exclaimed, shoving back at him. It angered Sam that Jacob was coming to his sister's defense. It shouldn't have bothered him but it did.

"I'll talk however I want." Sam retorted, narrowing his eyes at his former friend and pack member as the two began circling each other. "You just don't know when to quit do you?"

"Apparently not." Jacob sneered, turning his head to look at Quinn who stared back at him like they were the only two people there. It made Sam's stomach turn over.

"Quinn I mean it. Get inside." He ordered, watching as her own anger filled her face and she moved passed him towards the house.

"You never stop being an ass." she muttered loud enough for him to hear and then she was up the steps and in the door. Sam turned back to Jacob and shook his head.

"You're turning my sister against me." He said darkly, stepping closer to Jacob.

"No you're doing that all on your own without my help." Jacob shot back, standing his ground. "Maybe if you weren't such a jerk she would like you more."

"Shut up. You don't know anything about her."

"I know more then you think."

"Oh right. Like she would really talk to you about anything."

"Actually she has."

"What?"

"Ever since she got here, she and I have been spending time together. And she talks to me all the time. Not too much but she has told me about her life and her mom. Which I can tell she hasn't talked to you about."

"She talked about her mom's death?"

"All she told me was that her mom died a few months ago and that's why she is here."

"She barely even talks to me." Sam grumbled, thinking about how often his sister and him had any kind of meaningful conversation since knowing each other. It was in that moment that Sam realized he really didn't know her all that well. And Jacob got her to talk to him after only knowing each other for a few weeks. Jacob knew more about his sister then Sam did. And that pissed him off. A lot.

"You're mad. Aren't you?" Jacob asked crossing his arms with a smirk. "You're mad that she would rather confide in me then in you."

"Black, shut your mouth before I do it for you." Sam threatened, curling his fingers and raising his fist in the air.

"I'm not doing anything except telling the truth." Jacob responded, rolling his eyes. "Maybe you need to learn how to accept that."

"OK that's it. You're going down."

"Sam Uley you will do no such thing !" Emily's voice called out from the doorway and his arm dropped back down as his fiancee came out of the house and walked across the yard to where he and Jacob stood. She looked beyond mad when she reached him and immediately placed herself between them. "I can't believe you almost tried to start a fight. Right outside our house over something stupid."

"He refuses to stay away from Quinn. I had to do something." Sam explained, shrinking under his future wife's glare. He may have been a fierce, wolf, but when Emily got mad, he didn't feel strong at all.

"No you did not. You are a grown man. So start acting like it." she demanded, waving her finger in his face like he was a disobedient child, then she turned and looked at Jacob. "Jacob can you please go home while I have a talk with this one here."

"No problem Emily." Jacob said with a smile. "Sorry about the trouble."

"It's ok." She told him and then grabbed Sam's arm. "You and me are having a discussion inside."

"Ok fine." Sam agreed watching Jacob drive off and then he started towards the porch. "But first I have something to say to Quinn."

"Sam, don't you dare upset that girl any more." Emily warned, following behind him, but he didn't pay attention and kept on walking.

* * *

"Not so fast. You and I are going to have a talk. Right now!"

Quinn frowned and paused on the staircase as Sam burst through the door and stood there looking angrier then she had ever seen him and that was really saying a lot. He was always yelling at her and this time was exactly the same as every other time except for the fact that Emily stood behind him as if waiting to hold him back from doing something stupid. Like she was afraid that Sam would lose temper and lash out.

"I thought I made myself clear. I thought that when I said for you to stay away from Jacob that you heard me." Sam said, his voice sounding steady but she could tell it was just the calm before the storm. "And then I come out to see you in a car with him and then find out that you have been spending time with him. After I specifically told you not to."

"So what if I spend time with Jacob? I like him." Quinn blurted out, watching her brother's face darken with fury and his hands curled into fists. "He's the only person that actually makes me feel half way decent since moving to this hell house."

"I don't care. I don't want you near him. And I don't want to have to repeat myself again." He snapped, walking passed the staircase into the living room as if that was the end but Quinn wasn't ready to give up. She jumped off the steps and followed after him.

"So it's all about what you want, isn't it?" Quinn asked, placing her hands on her hips and staring up at him from the doorway. "It doesn't matter what I think or what I want."

"I don't care what you want." Sam snapped, throwing his hands up in the air and storming across the floor to where she stood. "And why should I? I've been doing everything in my power since you got here to make things work and you have been doing your best to push me away..."

"Sam..." Emily tried to join in, but her voice got lost when Sam started yelling again.

"You barely even acknowledge anyone around me which only proves that you are not capable of deciding who to have in your life."

"Sam stop it." Emily reached his side, trying to stop him but he wasn't aying attention to anyone but Quinn.

"I try and do the right thing by bringing you here and surrounding you with the only family you have left and you have been fighting me every step of the way." Sam shouted, grabbing Quinn by the shoulders and shaking her. "You need to wake up and stop being such a selfish little brat."

"I...I'm not a..." Quinn struggled to say, her anger fading the second Sam had physically started shaking her. It was the first time that she was afraid of her brother.

"You are acting like a child and you are 17. So behave like you are almost an adult. And not like a baby. Just do what the hell I tell you to do." Sam screamed, not even seeming to have control over his words anymore. And what he said next just proved it. "You wouldn't be acting like this if your mother was still alive."

"Sam no!" Emily cried out softly, but it was too late. The words were already in the air, hanging between them like a heavy fog. Quinn felt a chill wash over her the minute that sentence left his mouth. A painful throb was stabbing at her heart and for the first time since her mother's death, Quinn felt the unfamiliar prick of tears in her eyes. Sam finally appeared to come to his senses and he dropped his hands and stepped away, shock written on his face.

"Quinn, I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." Sam began to say, but Quinn didn't stay to listen to the rest. She turned on her heels and shot towards the front door and burst out on to the porch, allowing the screen to fall shut with a bang behind her. She needed to get away and she needed to do it fast. She didn't hear any footsteps coming after her. As a matter of fact, she didn't hear anything except for Emily's voice calming Sam down.

"Let her go. Let her calm down. She'll come back."

* * *

"Ok, where are you little girl?" Leah Clearwater said to herself as she walked along the dirt road in search of the young girl she had gotten a call about hours ago.

It had been quite a surprise when she had picked up the phone at her house that afternoon and found out it was Sam on the other line. And she wouldn't admit this, but her heart fluttered when she heard his voice. But she was soon annoyed when she found out that Sam simply wanted her to do him a favor and that was to look for his little sister. And because she was so pathetically still in love with him, she had agreed. And here she was, wandering around the reservation looking for this girl who she had never met. She didn't completely understand why Sam asked her to do it but he seemed to think his reasoning was good enough. Apparently he had gotten into a fight with Quinn over Jacob and the girl had taken off into the woods and Sam didn't think it was good to have himself of one of the boys go look for her and instead asked her. Obviously Sam had forgotten that she wasn't too good with the female gender. But she was willing to try and behave and agreed to help him, even if she was still mad at him. And that's what she had been doing for the past 2 hours. She was ready to head back to Sam's house to tell him she had no success when she felt someone walk into her.

"Hey watch it." Leah growled, annoyed at this stranger for being rude and not paying attention but she looked up and her eyes widened. "Quinn?"

The young girl's mouth dropped open in surprise and Leah breathed a sigh of relief. It was obvious that this was Sam's sister just from the description he had given of her, and the fact that shock was registered on her face. Her blue eyes were rimmed red as if she had been crying hard for a long time. "How do you know my name?"

"I'm Leah. Leah Clearwater." She explained, scratching her head and then held out her hand to the younger girl. "I know your brother. He and I used to date. He called me and asked me to come look for you."

"You dated the asshole?" Quinn asked, rubbing her hand across her face to dry her cheeks and then shook her hand. "And he asked his ex to come look for his little sister?"

"Yea. Pretty much." Leah agreed, standing awkwardly in front of the girl who was half sister to the man that she loved. "Sam didn't think you would want to see him just yet."

"For once he thought right." The brunette said bitterly, wrapping her arms around herself.

"You sound like you and him have butted heads quite a few times." Leah giggled, loving the fact that someone else besides herself hated Sam. It was nice to not being alone in her thoughts.

"Yea, that's an understatement." Quinn answered, staring at the ground and sighed. "How long have you known Sam?"

"Since we were in school. He and I were high school sweethearts. But then he dumped me because he fell in love and got engaged to my cousin." Leah recounted bitterly.

"Emily is your cousin?" Quinn looked shocked, obviously showing that Sam had never explained the situation to her. "I had no idea."

"Yup, she and I were like sisters. But then that kind of changed when he fell out of love with me."

"Wow. That sucks." Quinn replied, shaking her head. "I knew my brother was a jerk, but I didn't think he was that kind of jerk."

"He's not all bad. He's actually pretty cool most of the time." Leah said thoughtfully, thinking of Sam's better qualities but then her vision clouded over in negativity. "But he has his faults, which I'm sure you know."

"I don't know a lot about him to be honest." Quinn admitted as they started walking side by side down the path.

"Well let me make sure you get home and along the way I will educate you on the inner workings of Sam Uley..."

* * *

_10 hours later_

"You look upset." Jacob said to her later that night when the sky was dark and they say on the ground outside her house and looked up at the star filled sky.

"I'm not upset." Quinn replied, feeling agitated when he said this. She didn't want to think about that afternoon or the fight or anything. She just wanted to enjoy being here with Jacob without having to bring Sam in to the conversation.

"Yes you are. But I won't push it." Jacob responded, bring his legs up and laying his arm on his knees. "I'm just sorry that he yelled at you because of me. And I'm sorry that he got you so upset that you had to run off."

"It's ok. I knew that Sam didn't want me around you but I went ahead and ignored him anyway." She told him, tilting her head to the side so her long hair fell over her curled up legs. "I just didn't want to stick around and hear anymore. So I took off."

"I heard you met Leah." Jacob pointed out, scooting closer to her when the chilly wind blew over them. "She said she brought you home."

"Yea she did." Quinn nodded, thinking of the conversation she had had hours before with her brother's ex girlfriend. It gave her some more insight to the complicated person that her brother was. "She seemed nice enough."

"Then you caught her on a good day." Jacob laughed, making sure to stay quiet enough to not wake anyone up.

"I love listening to you laugh." Quinn stated without thinking, and was glad it was dark, because she started blushing again. She seemed to be doing that a lot when she was around Jacob.

"I'm sure I would love to hear your laugh, but you've never laughed at all since I met you." Jacob observed, sounding almost disappointed. "And actually, I've never even seen you smile."

"I try to, but I just can't seem to do it." she replied, not able to recall the last time she had smiled. It had been that long.

"Then that's my mission." Jacob exclaimed with determination. "I am going to make sure that you smile again. Whether you want to or not."

"You're crazy."

"That's what my dad says." He said shrugging shoulders so much that they brushed against her delicate ones. "Speaking of which, that's what I wanted to ask you about. Would you want to meet him tomorrow?"

"You want me to meet your Dad?" She asked, surprised that anyone would want to introduce her to their family. She had never been that type of girl. Until now. "Does he know about me?"

"It was his idea." Jacob said, turning his body in the dark. "I think he is getting tired of me talking about you and finally told me to bring you home. So I said I would ask you. What do you say?"

"That would be nice." Quinn said, feeling her chest fill with emotion that she couldn't recognize. It wasn't a hollow feeling. It was far from happiness. No, it was like being trapped in the darkness for hours and then finally being let out into the sun. She didn't know how Jacob brought that out of her just from his simple request, but she knew she wanted to stay around him to see what else he could make her feel.


	8. The Meeting

**Chapter 7 The Meeting**

"Wait, wait, wait. You're asking me to do what?" Emily asked turning her head to look at the girl sitting next to her.

"I need you to distract Sam so I can sneak out of the house right now." Quinn said simply, shrugging her tiny shoulders and looked around uneasily as if her brother would appear out of thin air the moment his name was mentioned.

"Why do you need to sneak out?" Emily questioned, frowning slightly. She remembered what it was like to be a teenager and the trouble that came along with those years and she wasn't going to let Quinn go out and find mischief. Even if the poor girl deserved some fun, Emily still had to be a grownup. "It has to be something bad if you need a plan to get out of the house."

"It's not bad in the traditional sense. I'm not trying to go out and get into drugs or alcohol. I want to go see someone and if I said that to Sam then it would start a fight." Quinn explained, running her hands through her hair. "Which is why I came to you. I was hoping you would help me."

"You want to see Jacob. That's who you want to sneak out for!" Emily exclaimed, knowing she was right when Quinn blushed a deep shade of red. "That is so cute. He is so perfect for you Quinn."

"So will you help me?" The teenager asked almost desperately. "Cause I can't do this if Sam is being attentive. And if I try and go out, he will ask questions and then he will find out I'm meeting Jacob and I don't really need another fight. You've seen how he acts around him."

"Of course I will help you. I never did think Sam was right in his treatment of Jacob." Emily pointed out, standing up from the couch and nodded towards the front door. "Sam's going to be home soon, so if you're going to go, then I would go now."

"What are you going to tell him about where I am?" Quinn asked, pausing at the door and looking back. "You know he will ask."

"I will tell him I took you to the library to do research for a paper. And then I will distract him so badly that he won't even question that theory."

"How will you distract him that much?" Quinn wanted to know.

"Uh...by doing...grownup things." Emily suggested, feeling slightly embarrassed at saying that out loud. But it was nothing compared to the look on Quinn's face.

"Ok, that's gross. I don't want to hear about my brother's sex life." She replied, looking disturbed by this conversation topic. "Ok, I am off. Thank you so much for this."

"Glad to be of service. Now go." Emily ordered and smiled when the girl nodded and sprinted out the door and across the yard towards the trees. She was happy that she had done something to help Quinn. Maybe now the girl would feel less out of place and less awkward around them. Like she belonged and maybe eventually she would feel happy and even smile at some point. At least that would mark the beginning of the healing process. Not just for Quinn, but for Sam as well.

* * *

"I can't believe you actually got out of the house." Jacob said to her as soon as Quinn climbed into the car next to him and buckled her seat belt.

"Emily helped out. She agreed to keep Sam busy so I could come out and meet you." Quinn told him as he began to drive and she took to watching him. She could never stop doing that. "And here I am."

"Here you are." He agreed, laughing so wide that his dazzling white teeth showed. "I'm glad you were up to meeting my dad. He wouldn't have accepted no for an answer."

"Your dad sounds like a real piece of work." She observed, leaning her head on her hands as she looked out the window.

"I guess you could say that." Jacob replied, propping his muscular arm on the door at his side. "But I wouldn't have it any other way. My dad's the best, despite his oddball-ness."

"So what is having a father like?" She asked, without thinking too much of what she was saying. Jacob looked confused so she continued speaking. "I mean, I never really knew my father, so I always wondered what it would be like."

"I don't know how to explain that." He shrugged. "It's all I have ever really known. I mean, my mom died when I was a kid, so I don't know what it is like to have a mom, only a dad. So it would be like trying to explain that to me."

"I guess that makes sense." She nodded, tapping her knee with her fingers. "All I have ever known was just my mom. That's it."

"You know, you never did tell me how she died."

"Do we have to talk about this?" She asked, turning her attention to her lap where she fiddled with her fingers. She hadn't talked about her mom's death with anyone. Certainly not Sam, and not even with Emily.

"Not if you don't want to. I just have a feeling that you've kept this silent for a while and in some way you want to talk about it, but it's just hard for you." Jacob said pointedly, looking straight through the windshield. "It's ok if you don't want..."

"She was murdered!" Quinn blurted out before she could stop herself. The second the words left her mouth, she wished she could take them back. That wasn't how she wanted to say it. She wanted to be calm and rational when she told him the truth, but that wasn't the case and now she was embarrassed. She glanced over at Jacob to see what his reaction was and he only looked at her with pity in his eyes. "She was shot in the head and the chest and then left out in a field for the police to find. They never figured out who did it."

"I'm sorry." Was all Jacob could say, his muscles tensing under his skin.

"Its ok." She said quietly, feeling slight relief from finally letting it out. "I try not to think about it too much."

"And how does that work out for you?" He wanted to know, turning the car on to a different dirt road.

"It's easier when I'm with you." She admitted, biting her lip as he grinned widely without even looking at her. "You take my mind off everything."

"So I'm a good distraction then?" He asked, pulling the car to a stop in front of a old looking red house and turning the ignition off.

"You're a very good distraction."

* * *

"You look nervous. Are you nervous?" Jacob asked Quinn as they walked up the steps of his porch towards his front door. Her face was a fake mask of calmness but he knew better then to trust that, which was why he was prodding her about it.

"I'm not nervous." She denied, running her hands through her hair for the third time even though not a strand was out of place. Seeing her do that made him want to reach out and touch her for himself, but he restrained himself.

"Sure, if you say so." He replied, reaching for the door and waved her forward into the house. "Ladies first."

"You are not like any other guy I've met." She mumbled, walking passed him and her shoulder brushed against his arm. "You're too polite for your age. It's not normal."

"That's what I keep telling him." A booming voice called out from the other end of the house and within seconds, the sound of wheels reached their ears and moments later his father came rolling into the room with a big grin on his tanned, weather-beaten face. "Well are you just going to stand there or introduce me to this pretty little thing?"

"Dad, we just walked in. Give me a second." Jacob grumbled, rolling his eyes at his dad's eagerness to jump right in. "Quinn this is my father Billy. Dad, this is Quinn."

"Ah, Sam Uley's little sister." His father said, reaching out his hand to Quinn. "Every one on the reservation has been curious about you."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Black." Quinn replied politely stepping forward to shake his father's hand.

"Call me Billy. Mr. Black makes me sound old." Billy insisted with a laugh.

"Dad you are old." Jacob reminded him and chuckled when his father sent a glare in his direction.

"Behave yourself Jake before I embarrass you in front of this lovely lady." His father warned playfully before turning his attention to Quinn. "So my son has been talking about you non-stop and I needed to meet this girl who he won't shut up about."

"I hope I live up to the hype." Quinn shrugged, looking down at her feet briefly.

"I think that's up to Jacob to decide." His father smirked, raising his eyebrows at him and Jacob felt a flush take over his body. "Aw what's the matter Jake? Embarrassed?"

"Not at all." Jacob denied, even though he totally was. He would never admit that though to his father in front of Quinn. "Why don't we go sit down?"

"That's a good idea." Billy replied, turning in his wheelchair and leading the way out of the front room.

"Sorry about my dad." Jacob apologized softly as he walked close to Quinn while they followed his dad. "He sometimes gets over zealous when he is trying to make other people feel comfortable."

"It's ok." She whispered back, her arm touching his slightly as they walked. "It's kind of refreshing, actually."

"Stop the whispering back there and come socialize." His father demanded and they hurried in to the small living room and dropped down onto the couch together across from his dad. "It's about time. I thought you two were going to stay back there all day."

"Oh you wouldn't let that happen, Dad." He said, propping his arm up on the back of the couch.

"So Quinn..." His father turned his attention to the girl sitting beside him. "What should I know about you that my son hasn't already told me?"

"Well um..." She started to say, turning her head to look around the room as if it would give her an answer. Her focus landed on the wall the farthest away from them and that's when she spoke. "You have a piano."

"Oh yea. Had it for a while when my daughters were growing up. Figured it would be good for them to learn how to play an instrument, but they never took to it. It hasn't really been touched for years." Billy explained, looking at the dark wooded piano that was sitting in the corner of the room by the window. "Do you play?"

"Yea, my mother hired a private piano teacher for me when I was growing up and I loved it." Quinn said, looking longingly at the instrument and for a second she seemed to be somewhere else.

"Do you still play?" Jacob asked, transfixed by the look on her face. It was the most calm, and tranquil she had looked since he had meet her on the beach.

"Not as much as I would like to. I don't really have access to a piano at Sam's place or anywhere." She replied, twirling her long hair around her fingers. "I would love to be able to play again."

"You're more then welcome to help yourself to that old heap of wood."Billy interjected, motioning behind him to the piano. "Why don't you play something?"

"Right now?" She asked, her eyes widening and when his dad nodded, she shook her head. "Oh I couldn't."

"Please do." Billy insisted. "It would be nice to have someone get some use out of that thing."

"Well..."

"Come on. Just play." Jacob also pushed, interesting in hearing the possible sounds she could bring out of the old instrument. She looked at him and he nodded in assurance. "Entertain us."

"Fine. Just don't make fun of me." She said, standing up from the couch and passing by in front of him on her way across the room. When she reached the piano, she didn't sit down right away. Instead, she ran her fingers across the wood and closed her eyes. As if the simple touch of the wood was bringing up a memory for her. And Jacob was completely engrossed in watching her. She was beautiful and precious in every movement she made. The way she touched things lightly, or the way her body swayed when she walked was enough to capture his attention. And when she sat down on that bench and pushed her hair back and positioned her fingers over the keys, he had a feeling he was about to be even more entranced.

Then she started playing, the sound that came from the old piano was mesmerizing. Jacob felt the air in the room shift immediately and from the look his dad sent him, Jacob could see that his father was fixated on her as well. It wasn't until she opened her mouth that he was truly stunned.

"_..As high as the moon_

_So high were my spirits_

_When you sang out my name..._

_And coming from you_

_It was enough just to hear it_

_Oh it rang like the bells did today_

_But even the sturdiest ground_

_Can shift and can tremble_

_And us fall down_

_Kindly Unspoken_

_You show your emotion_

_And silence speaks louder then words_

_It's lucky I'm clever_

_If I didn't know better_

_I'd believe only that which I'd heard..."_

* * *

"Ok, I think that was the first time my dad has ever been speechless." Jacob pointed out to her later that night as they walked from his car towards Sam's house.

"Oh please. It wasn't that impressive." Quinn denied, feeling embarrassed whenever someone complimented her. She wasn't used to it and never knew how to accept it. She was just glad that the sun was setting so Jacob couldn't see her blush once again.

"I beg to differ." He argued, laughing slightly and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I had no idea you could sing."

"My mom taught me herself. She always had a beautiful voice." Quinn explained, thinking of the times when her mom and her would sit on their balcony and sing out into the empty yard of their apartment complex. It was one of those rare times when the pressure of being just a two person family didn't get to them. It made her sad that she would never be able to have that experience with her mom again. But playing the piano for the first time in months was a good thing as well. It brought back hidden memories that had been too painful for her to remember but now she welcomed. "She and I used to sing and play piano together when I was growing up. Tonight was the first time I've played since she died."

"Wow. That's intense." Jacob replied softly, turning his head to look at her. "You know, it makes me sad to see you sad. Even though I have only known you for a few weeks. Is that weird?"

"Not to me." Quinn told him as they approached the front of the house. "It kind of makes me feel less alone when you say things like that. I don't get that feeling too much around Sam."

"Yea well, Sam's never been the type to talk about his feelings. He usually uses his actions to show how he feels." Jacob told her as she stepped up on to the first step of the stairs leading up to the porch. She turned around to face him and even in the dimming light, she could see him smiling at her. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and nodded up at the house. "So I guess this is where I'm supposed to say goodnight and that I will see you tomorrow."

"I guess it is." Quinn agreed, even though she didn't want to. But she was lucky enough to have been out this long already. She didn't need to rock the boat by stalling. "Good night Jacob."

"Good night Quinn." Jacob said, his deep voice sounding gentle in the oncoming darkness. Then he did something that she wasn't expecting. She saw his arm move slightly, his hand reaching out in the air between them towards her. She didn't move and instead just watched as his fingers stretched out and brushed against her closed fist. Feeling his skin on hers made her grip relax and her fingers uncoiled until they were winding themselves around Jacob's and soon their hands were firmly locked together. Quinn was waiting for the moment where her fear would take over and her nerves would kick in. She was never good with being physical with a guy and she always got scared when they made a move and she was sure that same feeling would show up now with Jacob. But it didn't. She waited in silence and just stared down at their hands and was ready for when that nervousness came but it never emerged. She looked up and saw Jacob smiling at her and any fear she thought she might have had was gone. All there was, was Jacob. Just Jacob. And a calmness that was starting to fill the hole in her heart.

**a/n: i do not own the song in this chapter...it belongs to kate voegale and it is called "kindly unspoken" ...**


	9. The Visions

**Chapter 8 The Visions**

_She was standing there in those dense woods with nothing but silence around her. She was alone. At least she thought she was. And then the silence was broken by the sound of snapping twigs._

_The wolf appeared out of nowhere and circled her in the clearing. She had been staring at the tree line for minutes, searching for the first trace of what had made the noise. And nothing came into sight. But then he just showed up, all big and formidable, his paws 5 times bigger then her her own feet. And his enormous dark eyes bore down on her as he approached. But she wasn't afraid. There was something in the animal's gaze that was familiar._

_"I get the feeling that I know you." Quinn said out loud to the wolf, following it as he continued to walk around her._

_The wolf showed no sign of wanting to attack, but he didn't exactly back away from her. If anything, it closed in on her, as if trying to draw her close. Quinn stepped away, not trusting this animal, despite the familiarity of it's stare. The wolf followed after her when she continued walking away, as if it were merely a faithful puppy instead of a gigantic wild beast. It's odd behavior made Quinn pause in her movement and look at it again. Something was telling her this wasn't just some random animal. That it wasn't just coincidence she happened to walk upon this wolf with eyes that she had seen before._

_It wasn't until the wolf rubbed the tip of his nose under her hand that a smile broke out across her face. She hesitantly reached her hand up and touched the enormous head of this beast and dragged her fingers through it's long fur._

_"If I didn't know any better, I swear you remind me of..."_

"Mrs. Owens, will you kindly stop day-dreaming and pay attention to the lecture." The annoyed voice of her science teacher broke through her thoughts and brought her back to the present. And as her vision refocused, the sneering looks and amused giggles of her classmates reached her eyes and ears and she felt her face flush from embarrassment.

"Sorry Mr. Anderson." She muttered, sliding down in her seat and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head to block out the whispers and glances from the kids sitting in the rows ahead of her. She turned her eyes to the notebook on her desk and picked up her pen to show the illusion of taking notes, but really she was thinking the images that had been going on in her head for the past few weeks.

Ever since the day that she had met Jacob's father, Quinn couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about the people on the reservation. She didn't know what it was and she didn't know where to begin to figure it out, but she knew there something going on. She didn't have the guts to ask about it. It just wasn't her style to go butting around in things that weren't her business. And normally she would just brush off those feelings until they went away. And for a while they did. But it wasn't until the visions of wolves started appearing in her head that those feelings came rushing back and stayed there for the past couple of weeks. Quinn felt a certainty that these visions and her feeling of suspicion were somehow connected. And that was further proven when she was unable to let it go. The images of wolves entered her mind at every opportunity, almost as if they were trying to tell her something that she didn't want to face.

"Something is going on. But what is it?" Quinn mumbled to herself, doodling on the paper in front of her. She dropped her pencil in frustration and rubbed her temples with her fingertips. Her head ached from the constant chaos circulating inside it. It was almost unbearable. But she had been dealing with it for a long time now and she knew how to ease the frantic pace of her thoughts when she needed to. It just seemed lately that she had been unable to concentrate.

Quinn sighed and thought about her life back home. It's not like she could talk to Sam about this. The two of them barely were able to be in the same room as each other, so the idea of them actually having a conversation about something like this was out of the question. There was also Emily, whom she had started opening up to. She was probably one of the only people that Quinn felt comfortable talking to. But she couldn't quite envision having this kind of talk with her brother's fiancee. She worried that Emily would think she was going crazy from the stress of the past few months and that a conversation about wolves and things in her head would just prove that. Quinn already knew she was strange and different from everyone else. She had known that her whole life and she didn't need other people commenting on it. So maybe it would be better if she kept this to herself.

But for how long?

* * *

"Crossing over into Cullen territory again?"

"Not quite. I still have 2 feet to work with." Jacob shot back with a grin as he stepped forward and wrapped his strong arms around the stone body of his now vampire best friend. Bella hugged him back too, but he could tell she was holding back so she wasn't hurting him and he appreciated that. They were both different from everyone else with superhuman strength. But Bella was just a bit more stronger and if she wasn't careful, she could snap his rib-cage in a matter of seconds. But even that didn't damper his excitement at seeing his best friend for the first time in a while.

"You seem happier today. In fact, you're a lot happier then the last time I saw you." Bella commented, her frozen lips twisting into a smile as they stood before each other. "What's going on?"

"A lot has happened actually. It's hard to even know where to begin." Jacob told her, his hand running through his short black hair. "Did you and Edward hear about Sam's half sister?"

"Sparingly. We don't get too much news from the reservation unless someone offers it." Bella mentioned with a shrug of her slender, immortal shoulders. "Seth gave us some details about her but I suspect that he didn't tell us everything."

"You're probably right. Even I didn't tell him everything." Jacob mused, thinking about his conversation with the younger Clearwater. He knew Leah knew about the true extent of his interest in Quinn, but Seth hadn't been informed yet and Jacob was making a mental note to have that talk with his friend.

"So what is she like?"

"Amazing. Wonderful. Breath-taking. And so damn beautiful." Jacob gushed, not caring that he sounded like a total sap. He was truly happy and he didn't have any problem showing that. "She's perfect."

"Hmm. She must be something special if she has you smiling like that." Bella commented, her lips paused in a slight smirk. "I can't remember the last time you had a genuine smile on your face. But that was my fault I suppose."

"That's in the past." Jacob told her, waving his hand in the air to prove his point. He didn't care anymore about all the drama that had happened between them in the past few years. That was forgotten and it didn't have a hold on him anymore. He had moved passed it the moment he met Quinn and he was grateful that he was able to now have the strong friendship he had always had with Bella back in his life. "You're still my best friend, even if you are a foul smelling vampire."

"Thanks Jake. It's good to hear that. Minus the slight insult, of course." She grinned, tucking her hair back from her pale face. "So is this is? Is she the one?"

"Oh yea. Big time." Jacob replied excitedly, confirming that Quinn was his imprint. "Although, it doesn't come without it's share of problems."

"Explain."

"Just the simple fact that Sam feels the need to rip my head off any time I am near his sister." Jacob explained, his eyes narrowing at the thought of his former leader. "He keeps telling me to stay away from her, but of course I can't do that."

"I'm not Sam's biggest fan either, but I like to think he has enough sense to realize that you are going to be around forever with her and he can't do anything about it." Bella said, shaking her head. "But Sam can be a definite hot head when he is being stubborn. I know, first hand."

"I get that he and I have our problems and that's fine. Those are our problems, not anyone else's. And he doesn't need to bring that into my relationship with Quinn. But he does it every time. And I can't stand it." Jacob breathed heavily as he spoke.

"I don't know what to tell you except that maybe he will get used to it eventually."

"You sound very optimistic." Jacob pointed out.

"I can't help it. When it comes to you, I want to believe that you will end up having the best. You deserve it and I want you to have it." Bella said with a smile.

"Thanks. I hope I get it too." Jacob sighed, sitting next to her on a fallen tree stump. "Things can never just be simple can they?"

"Not in our world. Trouble and drama seem attached to everything and everyone." She muttered, tapping her long slender fingers on her knee. "I'm just glad there is a bright spot in all this."

"Me too. Quinn is my world, and I will take the bad that comes with it."

"OK, the way you talk about her is making me so curious." Bella chirped, her voice sounding musical to his ears. "You realize that as your friend, that I need to meet this girl."

"Alright, I will introduce you to her. On one condition." Jacob stated, crossing his arms. "Try not to drink her blood."

"Oh Jake." She laughed, pushing him lightly on the shoulder. "You know I have better control then that."

"Hey, I'm just covering my bases." He laughed, feeling the ease of their friendship in the air. He had missed spending time with Bella.

"Well, you have my permission to retaliate if I lose it and attack her." Bella promised, holding her hand out to him.

"Alright. Deal." He agreed, shaking her cold stone hand. He couldn't wait for the two most important girls in his life to meet. It would be a turning point and it had to happen.

* * *

_3 hours later..._

"I swear to god that school is a nightmare." Quinn muttered to herself, as she sat on her bed with her schoolwork spread out around her. She had been trying to get the comments of her fellow classmates out of her head, but it was a lot easier said then done. These students were so petty and stupid and had no qualms whatsoever about making fun of her. All throughout the day, they pointed and laughed at her, just like they did every day. No one talked to her face to face or sat with her in class or in the cafeteria. They didn't want to know her, they just wanted her around to be their source of amusement to see how far she could be pushed before she broke. And there were definite times when she almost did. But she usually walked out quietly and calmly before finding an empty bathroom to cry in. There was no way she was going to let these idiots see her be affected by their dumb-ass comments. Otherwise she would never live it down. She got bullied enough as it is.

"I cannot wait till I can escape that stupid place." She said, rubbing her eyes to clear her vision of the fog that had set in. She closed her lids briefly, feeling the familiar sensation in her head as her body relaxed...

_Jacob was walking along the trees by himself, dressed in his usual attire of jeans and a black t-shirt. He wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere. He just seemed to be enjoying himself. He looked happy. Blissful. There was a goofy grin on his face._

_And then it changed._

_There was a wild pair of eyes following him in the distance. Stalking closer at every moment. He was unaware of it as he strolled along. Not knowing that he was being tracked by a hungry mountain lion, intent on pouncing on him within a few moments. It wasn't until Jacob stopped to re-tie a loose shoelace that the animal flashed forward and the scene changed again._

_There was red. A lot of it on the floor of the forest along with Jacob's fallen body. His face couldn't even be seen because of the blood covering his skin. His arms twitched to fight back, but they were growing slower, weaker, until they fell to the ground and he stopped moving..._

Quinn's eyes snapped open and she stared straight ahead at the wall, while her frenzied heartbeat thudded to a stop. Her hands were frozen on her legs and she couldn't feel the urge to move until she forced herself to. And then she shot up and off the bed. She darted across her floor to her desk and grabbed the phone lying on a pile of books and hit the buttons until she was dialing a number that she wanted and pressed it to her ear. She hated that ringing sound since it seemed to drag on forever and she had to stand there jumping in place until it ended and he picked up. "Hey Quinn."

"Jacob! Where are you? Are you ok?" She asked frantically, a heat washing over her body when she heard his voice.

"I'm fine. I was just talking to a friend. I'm on my way home now. Why?"

"Are you in the woods right now?" She asked, her hand closing tightly on her wrist as she waited for him to answer.

"Yea, I thought I would take this way home to enjoy the rest of the day." He replied, and she could hear the snap of twigs under his feet as he walked, confirming that he was indeed amongst the trees. " What's wrong? You sound worried."

"You can't be in that forest. It's not safe."

"I know that. But it won't be long until I am at my house, so I wont be out here for too much more. There's no need to be worried. I can take care of myself."

"No you can't!" She snapped, her grip becoming painful. "You could be attacked by mountain lion or something. It could be following you right now."

"I highly doubt that. They don't tend to come this far down from the mountains so don't worry, I will be ok." Jacob laughed, sounding beyond amused.

"Don't laugh at me. I'm being serious." Quinn said, swallowing hard, feeling her breathing quicken. She debated whether or not to say what she really wanted to say. She didn't want to because she knew it would open up a can of worms. But then again, this was a matter of Jacob's life and safety and her secrets had to take a backseat to making sure he was ok. "I saw it happening Jacob. I saw the mountain lion attack you. And I need you to be alert."

"Did you just wake up from a nap or something? Because maybe you're just remembering a nightmare." He suggested, not taking her comment seriously at all. It infuriated her and what he said next made her chest squeeze painfully. "Look, I will call you when I get home to give you a peace of mind. Bye Quinn."

"No Jake, don't hang up..." Quinn begged, but the line went dead as he hung up and she could only stare at it.

* * *

"That was sweet of her to be worried about me." Jacob grinned to himself as he stuffed his phone in his pocket and continued walking while he let his mind wander back to Quinn. She had sounded truly worried about his safety but he knew better then to freak out over something that couldn't possibly be true. Those animals never came this close to the outer rim of the forest and he had walked through here a million times and never once been attacked by anything. So he just chalked up her worry to a nightmare and just let it go. He would call her back once he was inside his house and prove to her that there was nothing to...

_Snap._

Jacob's ears snapped to attention when he heard that branch break in the distance and his hearing became super observant as he walked. His animal instincts from being a wolf took hold of him now and he felt a presence nearby that told him he was no longer alone. He didn't hesitate and immediately phased into his wolf form, knowing he would be better off in protecting himself when he wasn't human. And as he watched the shreds of his clothes settle around him, he felt that animal presence make a move and he took off into the trees, not even looking behind him to see how far away the mountain lion was. He just ran, jumping ahead by feet, intent on putting as much distant between him and this animal. At least until he had space to stand his ground and formulate his own attack plan. He ran deep into the woods until the trees became less dense and he knew there had to be a clearing up ahead as the hill became steep and rocky. He was approaching the cliffs and that gave him ample time to skid to a stop and turn and wait for the wild animal to catch up to him. He didn't have to wait long, because he had barely been standing there for a minutes before the mountain lion burst out of the tree line and stalked towards him. Jacob felt a deep growl erupt from deep inside his chest as he stared down this large cat. It was on.

They met with a clash in the middle of the clearing and Jacob found himself being slightly amused as he fought of this beast. The lion took a swipe at him, catching him in the shoulder with it's long claws and drew blood. But he barely felt it and charged back, rolling on top of the smaller animal and bit it's ear. An angry growl came from his attacker and Jacob found himself being thrown off and hitting the dirt with a dull thud. He barely had stood up before he was forced attack again when the lion leaped into the air and attempted to sink it's teeth into his body. Jacob bunched his muscles up and also sprung upwards and with a slight pivot of his body, he was able to clamp his much larger mouth around the mountain lion's throat and quickly snap it's neck. It fell to the ground in a heap and Jacob landed beside his fallen enemy in triumph.

"Well, that was exciting." He thought out loud as he phased back to his human form and looked down at the dead animal. He felt a small shakiness in his limbs that came as an aftershock to being attacked and he had to take a moment to collect himself. He hadn't felt the fear when he had been running nor did he feel it when he forced to defend himself. He just did what had to be done and that was it. It wasn't until everything was done that he kind of felt the emotion hit him. Maybe it was because it happened so quickly and was so sudden that it didn't affect him too much. It's not like he had seen it coming and knew to be afraid...

_I saw it happen Jacob...I saw it attack you._

Jacob felt his mind come to a screeching halt as Quinn's warning came back to him. It kept repeating itself over and over again until a cold sweat broke out across his skin. She knew. Quinn knew it was going to happen. When she had called him with that warning, he had brushed it off as nothing serious. But now that it had happened, he knew it wasn't just a coincidence. She had sounded so certain when she was talking to him. There was no trace of doubt in her voice and he realized now that she had been speaking the truth. She knew he was going to be attack and she had called to warn him.

But how did she know?


	10. The Confrontation

**Chapter 9 The Confrontation**

_"Hey Quinn, it's me Jacob. Look, we really need to talk about what happened. Call me back..."_

_"It's me again. I don't know if you got my last message, but I need to talk to you. Please give me a call. Bye."_

_"OK, I don't know why you are avoiding me. We both know something weird is going on. And I'm not going to give up until we can sit down and talk. Just call me back."_

_"Quinn, it's been two weeks. You can only ignore me for so long. It's not going to go away. So stop running..."_

Quinn sighed and sat back in her seat while her teacher stood at the front of the class and pointed out something on the board that they were supposed to be copying down but she had long given up on trying to concentrate today. She looked around the room at the other students bent over their desks and as usual she was sitting alone. Not just alone, but literally with no one sitting by her. Every desk surrounding hers was empty, it was like they were afraid to be near her, like they were worried her weirdness would be contagious or something. But she didn't mind too much. She was slowly getting used to the fact that she wasn't going to have any friends at this school. She had been here for weeks and still nothing had changed. She was still ostracized and bullied or just plain ignored on a daily basis. These people didn't want to know her and she didn't really want to know them. They were petty and stupid and mean. So it was a no-brainer to not want them as friends. Although, it would be nice to have someone to spend time with since she was now without Jacob. But who knew how long that would last.

She leaned over and propped her elbow on the desktop and laid her chin in the palm of her hand. Her eyes clouded over as she thought back to the messages that Jacob had left on her cell phone. She had listened to them all too many times to count and each time she had to fight the urge to call him back. He just sounded so desperate and eager to talk to her and if she were truly honest then she felt the same way. But she couldn't talk to him or see him. Because if she did, then she would have to admit the thing she had been keeping secret. The one thing that she was sure would make him not like her anymore. At least if she refused to return his calls and ignored his late night visits, then she wouldn't have to confront anything. She could keep pushing this farther and farther away until she was able to admit it. But that day was in the very distant future. And even then, she didn't think she could ever say it out loud. It was too terrifying to think how anyone would react, especially Jacob.

_I wish Mom was here to tell me what I should do._

That was a big mistake to allow that thought to speak inside her head. She instantly felt an overwhelming pressure build behind her eyes and she had to bite down on the sleeve of her sweatshirt to keep from making any noise. The last thing she needed was for her peers to see her burst into tears right in the middle of class. But she couldn't help but yearn for her mother's guidance. She had always known what the right thing to do was and Quinn needed that more then ever. She was dropped into the chaos of a new life where everything still felt so strange and foreign and she was surrounded by people she didn't know and the people she was supposed to know, felt like strangers to her. That's probably why she had gravitated towards Jacob so strongly, he felt familiar and safe. And she was starting to wonder if she cared for him more intensely then she was ready to admit. And that's why it was so hard for her to talk to him now. Quinn knew she liked him and if she had to tell him how she knew about him getting attacked then he was going to be afraid of her and she didn't want that. She wanted him to keep on liking her. And with all the bad stuff that had happened already, she couldn't take it if she lost his affections over this. It would just be too much.

"Ms. Owens, will you please pay attention." The teacher interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see every face in the classroom turned to stare at her and she bent her head in embarrassment. "This is important material and it is not the first time you have let your mind wander in my class."

"Sorry." Quinn mumbled, sliding down in her chair to hide from the laughs and sneers the other students were sending her way. Some of them rolled their eyes at her and turned back around. But others like the popular girls who had really hated her since day one, smirked evilly and pointed at her like they wanted her to know they were going to make things worse. Even more then they usually did.

Quinn squeezed her eyes shut and hoped the bell would ring soon. She couldn't wait for this day to be over , so she could run home and hide some more.

* * *

_What is going on with her?_

Jacob sat on an old log deep in the forest and stared straight ahead of him at his sneaker covered feet and contemplated his next move. He had been like this the past few weeks and still he couldn't come up with anything else. He had done all he could to get Quinn's attention but still he was left in the dark. He thought calling her constantly would be the thing to get her to talk but not only did she not pick up, but she didn't return any of his messages. He tried going to her house at night and throwing pebbles up at her window. And even though her light was on, she never appeared in sight. It was beginning to feel like torture the longer he went without seeing her. At some point he almost forgot the reason why she wasn't talking to him and was too wrapped up in his desire to see her. But eventually it came back to him and he found himself in moments like these trying to figure out how to get past it.

"Why the long face Jacob Black?" Jacob looked up with a grin. It was Bella, his best friend in the world stepping out from behind a line of trees looking as usual, stunning in his eyes. Just because he had imprinted on Quinn didn't mean he didn't still notice the new found beauty in his friend. He watched as she appeared to float across the ground to where he was sitting and drop down next to him. She pushed her hair away and smiled. "What's going on?"

"I don't know what you mean." Jacob tried to play dumb, not sure if he should confide his woman troubles to Bella.

"Yes you do." Bella retorted with a point of her slender finger. "Come on, Jake. I've known you for years. I know when something is up with you. So spill. Is Sam giving you trouble again?"

"Sam is always giving me trouble, but he isn't the problem this time." Jacob sighed, curling his hands over the tops of his knees. "It's Quinn."

"Trouble in paradise already?" She joked with a shrug.

"Not trouble exactly. More like weird." He mumbled, shifting in his place to face Bella and looked at her curious expression. "She won't return my calls and she won't see me. She's been ignoring me completely for the last two weeks."

"Wow, what did you do to piss her off?" Bella wondered, pressing her lips together to fight off a smile.

"I didn't do anything." Jacob denied, glaring at the ground by his feet.

"Then what happened?" His friend asked, moving closer to him. "She wouldn't just ignore you for no reason."

"Something happened a few weeks ago that kind of threw me. I was walking out here in the forest and Quinn called me and asked if I was in the woods and if I was ok. She told me that I was going to get attacked if I stayed out here. I thought it was nothing and just told her I would call her when I got home. I really didn't think anything of it." Jacob started explaining, going back to that day and what had happened. "And then, all of a sudden I looked behind me and there was a mountain lion lying in the brush waiting to pounce on me. I had to phase and lead it away to kill it. And when it was all over and I was back in my human form, Quinn's warning kept on repeating in my head and since then I have been trying to get her to tell me how did she know."

"You're kidding right?" Bella asked, looking at him with her eyes light up in amusement.

"No I'm not." Jacob told her with a frown. "You think I'm lying about this?"

"Not at all. I think everything you just said is true except for one part." Bella replied, intertwining her hands together in her lap.

"Which part?"

"The part where you said you didn't know how she knew. I think you do know." Bella pointed out.

"I just told you that I didn't. And that's why I'm trying to get her to talk to me. It's just too weird to think that she somehow knew that a wild animal was going to come after me. And I can't figure it out. Only she can confirm it." Jacob snapped, running his hands through his hair. "But she won't talk to me. So how can I find out?"

"Maybe you need to open your eyes and see what's really in front of you." Bella said gently, patting his shoulder softly so she wouldn't hurt him. "The answer is right there. You're just not seeing it.'

"You really think so?" Jacob asked, now more confused then he was before. Bella was supposed to make things clearer, not more cloudy.

"You know what the truth is. You just have to open you eyes."

**

* * *

**

**A few hours later**

"I'm so glad to be out of there." Quinn said to herself as she sat down on a chair out on the front porch and leaned back against the wall of the house and closed her eyes.

She had never been more happy to be out of school then she was today. After her day dreaming in class, she knew that she was going to be taunted for the rest of the day and lo and behold she had been right. The moment she left the class and started walking down the hall, she had been followed by the three blond girls that had laughed at her in class. They walked just behind her and occasionally shoved their elbows into her back so she would stumble and drop her books. They continued doing this until she came to her locker and they left to go torture some other poor student, but not before yanking on her hair as they passed by. Quinn wished she were the kind of person who could retaliate against those kinds of people. But she wasn't. She was the girl who suffered in silence and just let people do this kind of stuff. Which was why she was glad to grab her bag and get back to the house. Emily wasn't able to pick her up, so Quinn instead walked back for the first time. It was calming after the day she had and when she dropped her bag on the floor of her bedroom, she decided to come out on to the porch and enjoy the silence before Sam got home. She needed to have a moment to herself.

"We need to talk." A deep voice said, causing her to sit up quickly and her eyes to grow big. Jacob was standing at the bottom of the porch steps with his muscular arms crossed over his chest and a unreadable expression on his face.

"There's nothing to talk about. And even if there were, then I would have called you back." Quinn told him, biting her lip as her heart beat slowed down to normal. It was hard not to stare at him. He appeared to have gotten even better looking in the weeks she had pushed him out of her life.

"Well you didn't and it is time I got some answers." Jacob replied, stepping up one plank and paused with his hand on the railing. Quinn watched him move and tried to pretend like she wasn't fighting the urge to get up and run. He stared at her with his dark eyes as he came closer. "How did you know I was going to be attacked that day?"

"I didn't...not really. It...it was just a feeling. That's it." Quinn mumbled, diverting her eyes from his. She couldn't look at him. She felt a foreboding feeling come over her and she knew she wasn't going to like it's outcome.

"No that is not it. You sounded way too certain that something was going to happen." Jacob shook his head and leaned against the railing while her hands curled into fists. "You were so sure that I was going to be hurt. And certainty like that doesn't just come from a feeling."

"I don't know what you want me to say." She whispered, looking down. She felt like she was being cornered and she knew she was going to have to tell him the truth. She just wished it wasn't this soon. She didn't want to scare him with her abnormality.

"I want you to say the truth." Jacob said softly. It was then that he sat down next to her and grabbed her hands before she could pull them away. She tried to, but he was too strong. He wasn't going to let her go."Come on Quinn, talk to me."

"I can't."

"Why not?" Jacob's hands held fast to hers so she knew she couldn't go anywhere. "What is it that you can't talk to me about? I thought you liked me. I thought you could talk to me."

"I do like you, but I can't tell you how I know." Quinn stuttered, looking up at him and catching the look in his eyes. "If I tell you, you're not going to like me anymore."

"How do you figure that?" He wanted to know, his thumbs moving across the back of her hands. If it had been any other time, she might have enjoyed his touch. But right now, she was too distraught and worried.

"I can't do this now. Sam and Emily are going to be home soon and you know how Sam would react to it." Quinn pulled away from Jacob and stood up just as he did the same. She managed to squeeze past him and scurry towards the door.

"I'm not giving up on this." He called out to her as he moved off the porch. He looked at her as she paused by the door and crossed his arms again. "You may not want to talk about it, but we will have to eventually. And it's not going to make me like you any less."

"Jacob wait." She said suddenly, waiting for him to stop walking and when he did, she sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "Just...come back at midnight. Everyone will be asleep and...I'll come down and talk to you."

"You'll tell me what is going on?" He asked, not looking entirely sure that she would agree. But she knew she had to. He said he wasn't going to give up, so she might as well cut the cord herself.

"Yes. I will tell you what's going on." She nodded and then waved her hand at him. "Now go before someone sees you." And she hurried inside and shut the door behind her.

* * *

**Later that night**

_You know what the truth is...you just need to open your eyes._

"My eyes are open and I still don't know what the heck is going on." Jacob mumbled to himself as he sat on the ground against the side of the house and waited for Quinn to come down to talk to him. He had shown up at midnight like she had asked him to and now the rest was up to her. He was hoping that she wouldn't chicken out and not go through with this. Of course he would still stick by her until she was ready to tell him. That was the thing with having an Imprint. No matter how crazy they drove you, you would always stay by their side through anything. And Jacob was determined to not challenge that idea. Sure he needed her to tell him the truth, but he also knew enough not to push too hard. Because in the end, she could always be the one to end any kind of relationship between them. She held all the power.

"Jacob?" A timid sounding voice spoke from the corner of the house and he turned his head to see Quinn approaching him, dressed louse fitting pajama pants and a black tank top. She looked tiny and delicate and scared out of her mind. And he couldn't figure out why.

"Hey Quinn." He greeted, standing up as she walked toward him with her hands tucked under her arms. "I'm glad you came down."

"I'm not." She shook her hair so that it fell over one shoulder and he got a clear view of her slender neck, even in this dark. "I almost wanted to call it off and say forget it."

"Why?" He asked, walking over to where she stood and looked down at her. "What is it about the truth that is so bad that you look terrified to talk to me?"

"It's like I said before, if I tell you the truth then you're not going to want to be around me." She admitted with a shrug, twirling the ends of her hair through her fingers. She tilted her head back to look him in the eye. She looked so incredibly sad and withdrawn and Jacob knew it wasn't just about this secret. "I'm scared."

"Of what exactly?" He questioned, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her again like he had done that afternoon.

"I'm afraid of scaring you away." Quinn mumbled, biting down on her bottom lip as she spoke.

"You? Scare me away? Now that's funny." Jacob laughed. And it was funny. The thought of a small human girl like Quinn being worried about running him off was hilarious. He was a wolf for crying out loud. Nothing scared him. But then again, he had to remind himself that he hadn't yet told Quinn about his own secret yet.

"I'm serious Jacob. You wouldn't be laughing if you knew what the truth was." She sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "The truth is serious and I'm scared that once you know, then it will be over. You will not only not like me, but you will be scared of me because I'm..."

"You're what?" Jacob tried to urge her along. She looked like she was gearing herself up for something.

"I'm not normal." She said slowly, barely glancing at him as she said that. "I'm not like other people. It's like there is something wrong with me because of what I can do. And that's why I was avoiding you for the past two weeks. Because I thought pushing you away from me would be better. That way you can be around normal girls. And I'm not normal by any means."

"Ok, you have to clear things up because I am still not getting it." Jacob told her, shrugging his shoulders. Nothing was making sense. She still hadn't explained how she knew about the attack.

"Jacob, you wanted to know how I knew you were going to be attacked by that mountain lion. Well I am going to tell you." Quinn walked backwards to keep distance between them as if she were afraid of his reaction. "Me knowing about it was not just a feeling. It wasn't a coincidence and it wasn't random. I knew about it because I could see it happening."

"What are you saying?" Jacob frowned, knowing it was coming down to this.

"I am saying the truth. I can see things before they happpen. I can see the future."


	11. The Confessions

**Chapter 10 The Confessions**

"You're serious? You can actually see things happening in the future?"

"Yea, I can." Quinn said softly, looking down at her feet so she wouldn't have to see the expression on Jacob's face. "I've been able to do it since I was a young child."

"So you know everything that's going to happen?" He wondered, sounding curious. She looked up and was surprised to see that he didn't look at all scared of her. In fact he looked interested.

"Not exactly." She shook her head, twining her hands together. She walked over to the side of the house and sat down on the ground. "I see certain things. I get visions of events that haven't happened, but they are kind of random. I can't just pick and choose what I want to see. It just comes to me. I can't foresee everything bad that's going to happen. But sometimes I can."

"Like me almost getting attacked." Jacob said, his feet making barely any noise as he walked towards her and sat down a few feet away. "And I thought you were just worrying over nothing."

"You would be the first one to think that." Quinn murmured, stretching her legs out in front of her. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears.

"What do you mean?" Jacob's voice was steady, but she was sure it was just an act. There was no way he could possibly be ok with this.

"No one knew about this. Not the few friends that I had back home, not Emily or Sam. Not even my mother." Quinn told him, her lip quivering when she mentioned her mom. "You're the only one in the world who knows my secret."

"And you thought this would scare me?" Jacob asked, sounding like he was on the verge of laughter. "Well that's just stupid."

"No it isn't." Quinn exclaimed, feeling a rush of fury. She didn't think this was a laughing matter. "You're stupid. You should be scared of me!"

"Well I'm not." Jacob shot back, turning towards her so the moonlight caught his face. He held his hands up in front of him. "I'm honestly not scared. I promise you that."

"Why not? This isn't normal. I'm not normal. People tend to be afraid of weird things like this. And you don't seem to be at all worried that you are in the company of a crazy person." Quinn snapped, glaring at him. She wanted to throw something at him. It was like he wasn't even listening to her.

"What makes you think you're crazy?" Jacob questioned.

"Uh hello? I just told you that I can see the future. You don't think that sounds crazy?" She asked, stunned that he was being so calm about this. She had been gearing herself up for a crazy reaction. And he was behaving like she had just told him what she had for dinner. What the hell?

"Quinn." Jacob moved over until he was sitting right next to her and grabbed her shoulders. "I don't think you're crazy. I don't think you're abnormal or nuts or psycho. You just happened to have been born with the ability to see things before they happen. You can't help that. It's just a part of you."

"This might sound weird, but, it almost sounds like you are speaking from experience." Quinn raised her eyebrow at him. He seemed so certain about the words he was speaking. Why was that?

"We all have our secrets Quinn. Myself included. Which is why I'm not easily rattled by your confession." He said, his hands squeezing her shoulders tightly. "But I will confess later. Right now, you just talk and I'll listen."

"You're really going to sit here and listen to me?" Quinn felt her heart flip over at the look on his face. "You're not going to run away screaming?"

"I told you I wasn't." He said softly, his hands dropping from her shoulders and settling on his knees. He tilted his head to glance at her. "I like you Quinn. And I'm not going anywhere. So don't be scared of that happening."

"Wow. That's not the reaction I was expecting." Quinn looked down at her lap. Jacob's comforting presence was radiating from his body and it washed over her at that moment, erasing her fears and leaving her slightly worn out. She looked at him and then scooted over until she was almost leaning against him. He lifted his arm and put it around her back and she laid her head on his shoulder, enjoying the warmth she felt. It didn't take away her pain and the ache in her heart, but it helped. "Where do I start?"

"The beginning seems like a good place." Jacob stated, and she could hear the rumble in his chest as he breathed.

"Ok, well...the earliest I can remember knowing about this when I was like 5 or something. I was sitting in my room staring at the walls when I started seeing this movie-like scene playing in front of me. It was of my mother rushing into the kitchen and it was full of smoke, like something was seriously burning." Quinn explained, closing her eyes as she spoke. She could almost picture that day clearly in her head. "And I didn't think too much of it. I just thought I was pretending or day dreaming. And then later that night my mother left something on the stove and it caught fire. That was my first clue that something was quite right with me."

"Were you scared?" Jacob asked, she felt the muscles in his arm tighten.

"Kind of. I mean, I was just a kid. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't understand why I could see things before they happened. I was so sure that there had to be something wrong with me. Like I was dangerous or something." Quinn sighed, remembering how she felt all those years ago. It was tough to soft through all of that. She hadn't visited it in a very long time.

"Is that why you never told anyone?"

"Yea. I didn't want anyone to be burdened with this abnormality. And I mostly was afraid of people being terrified of me. So I kept quiet and dealt with it on my own." She said softly. "Over the years, the visions happened more and more and I just learned to stop being afraid of what it meant. But I just couldn't tell anyone. I knew I was different from other kids and I was already pushed around enough. If people knew about me, then who knows what they would do."

"That's heavy stuff for a person to handle on their own. I can't imagine doing that." Jacob commented, bringing his knee up to his chest. "So you went through this all by yourself. You never thought about telling your mom?"

"I considered it. In fact, I always thought that my mom could tell something was off with me. But I was so scared of what people may think, that I always shut out any idea of confiding in her. And she was the closest friend I had. If I couldn't tell her, then who could I tell?" Quinn shrugged her shoulders and without thinking, she moved closer to Jacob. "And then when she died, I was alone. And the possibility of telling the truth to anyone died with her."

"I hate to to ask this, but..." He paused for a long moment as if he were debating to even finish. "Did you see any vision of what was going to happen to your mom?"

"No." She answered simply. "I had no clue what was going to happen. And these last few months I have always wondered why I didn't see it. Would my mom have believed me if I told her? Would it have changed anything?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Jacob replied, turning to look at her. "I wish there was an easy way to answer that question."

"Yea me too." She mumbled, looking at him through watery eyes. "Because if I had that answer then maybe I could have tried to see it. I could have saved her. She wouldn't have gone to work that day and she would still be alive. And I wouldn't be here with a brother I barely know."

"I hate the circumstances that brought you here. And if I could give you back your mom, then I would. But I'm not going to lie. I am glad you're here." Jacob smiled at her and reached over and touched her face with his warm hand. "And I'm glad you finally stopped ignoring me and was able to tell me what was wrong."

"I'm glad too." Quinn said, wishing she could find the urge to smile but she couldn't. It would happen some day, but not right now. "It's a load off my shoulders. Now I don't have to hide my weirdness."

"Do you think you will tell anyone else?" Jacob questioned. "Like your brother, maybe?"

"Sam and I can't even have a conversation without it breaking down into some kind of fight." Quinn retorted, her face twisting into a frown at the thought of her brother. "We always end up yelling at each other."

"You guys need to work out your issues." Jacob joked lightly. "Because it is obvious that you two have some major problems."

"I could say the same for you." Quinn shot back. "What is the story with you and Sam? Why does he hate you so much? Why is it such a problem that you are around me?"

"Oh that is another story for another night." Jacob shook his head and went to move. "Come on, you should go back inside."

"Oh no you don't." Quinn grabbed his arm and pulled him back down on the ground next to her. "You said you had something to confess as well. So now it is your turn to talk."

"You really want to sit out here for another hour and talk?"

"It's only fair." Quinn stated, crossing her arms. "You got me to talk about my secret and now you have to do the same."

"It's a really intense thing to hear." Jacob warned, sitting back in his original spot. "More intense then your secret. More hard to believe."

"If you can believe my truth about seeing the future, then there has to be other supernatural stuff like that out in the world." Quinn pointed out, bringing her legs up close to her body. She had a feeling it was going to be a long conversation. "I mean, believing that there are real psychics in the world is tough to believe. So I don't know how much farther your secret could be."

"Oh you have no idea." Jacob sighed, his head leaning back against the side of the house. Even in the dark she could see the outline of his face and the expression was hardened, like he was trying to figure out how to word his thoughts. He didn't look at her for a few minutes and instead focused on the trees across the yard. Silence settled on them for the first time since meeting up and it had a slightly ominous undertone to it. Finally, he turned his head and spoke again.

"You're not the only one who is different Quinn."

**

* * *

**

**45 minutes later...**

"Quinn? Quinn? Come on, say something. Please." Jacob found himself begging almost an hour later when he had finally finished talking and saw that Quinn was staring at him with wide eyes and a blank face. She didn't make any noise and just stood a few feet away from him, shaking her head in disbelief.

Jacob wondered if he had made a mistake in telling Quinn the truth. He had kept it to himself for a reason. He didn't want to burden her with such heavy stuff when she was already loaded down with dealing with so many changes. That's why he wanted to wait until they had gotten to know each other better before unleashing this all on her. Then maybe it wouldn't have been so hard. But with her coming forward with her own secret, it was only right that he did the same in return. And once he started talking, it was like he couldn't stop. He opened the floodgates and the truth pushed itself out into the open.

He never imagined what it would be like to tell someone what he really was. He had never rehearsed how he would say that he was a wolf and he belonged to a pack. Sure he discussed it with his dad, but that didn't help in the moment. It was anything but calm and collected when it was falling out of his mouth. Maybe partially because he wanted to get it over with, he had been carrying it around for a while. So he told her everything. He explained the legends of the tribe and how he had become a wolf. About how it was passed down in the genes of their fathers and how they existed to protect their people from the Vampires. He told her about his own pack and his friends who were just like him and how they all went through this experience of finding out the truth. He talked briefly about his power struggle with Sam and why the two of them could barely be in contact with each other. This was the topic that had put that expression on her face, finding out that her brother was also a wolf. But the hardest thing of all to explain was about the Imprinting. That was hard to explain and even harder to understand. He tried his best to make sense, but he sometimes got so nervous that his words tripped over themselves. He at one point had to look at the ground just so he could continue and it was only when he had finally finished speaking that he looked up again at her.

"Quinn?" He called out, hoping that she would react to him and this time she did. She uncrossed her arms and let them fall to her sides as life returned to her eyes. "Are you ok?"

"Yea. I think so." She said slowly, moving her head upright to look at him. "That was just...not what I was expecting. That's all."

"I know. And I'm sorry about all that, but I felt like you should know." Jacob stated, shoving his hands into his pockets. "What are you thinking right now?"

"Alot of things and then nothing at all." She answered, crossing her arms nervously. "It's just very mind blowing to know stuff that this exists. I mean, just an hour ago I thought that I knew what to expect from the world and then it gets turned upside down. And it's a little scary."

"Are you scared of me?" He asked suddenly, not even realizing that she could be.

"No. I mean, I had no idea that you were going to tell me that you, my brother and half the people in this place can morph into wolves. It's like running into a brick wall. Unexpected and painful. And scary because who know what else is out there." Quinn told him, running a hand through her long hair. "But I'm not afraid of you."

"What about the other stuff I told you about? Like the Imprinting." He threw out, wanting to get a feel of how she was feeling about that. It was one of the more important things in his opinion.

"That's the scarier part. Not the fact that there are things like Vampires roaming the earth. Not of you being a wolf, but of knowing that we are each other's perfect match and we are going to be together for the rest of our lives. That's the most intense part." Quinn explained, pressing her lips together into a tight line. "Being told that at 17 is terrifying."

"I totally understand. It is kind of more then I bargained for." He replied sheepishly. "I had a hard time of believing it myself. But when I met you on the beach that day, it happened for me. And I haven't been the same since."

"I knew there had to be a reason why I felt this connection with you so instantly. Stuff like that doesn't happen in everyday life. But it is nice to know that I'm not alone in being different." Quinn shook her head as she walked towards him. Her hair blew behind her in the slight wind that had picked up. She stood in front of him and leaned her head back. "You just have to give me some time to get used to this. Let it sink in, you know?"

"Yea, I know." He nodded and reached out to her and silently cheered when she didn't pull away. "Listen, you should probably get inside and go to sleep. You look like you could use it. I 'll call you later."

"Ok." Quinn agreed and walked side by side with around the side of the house toward the front porch. She didn't look at him until she was standing on the first step and about to go inside. "Hey Jacob?"

"Yea?"

"Don't mention my secret to anyone. I don't want it getting back to Sam." She said, her eyes searching his.

"It stays a secret until you say different." He held up his hand for proof.

"Thank you."

* * *

**8 hours later...**

"Quinn? Are you alright? You look distracted." Emily's voice asked her over the breakfast table as the two of them sat there with the remains of their food sitting in front of them. Actually Emily was the one who had cleared her plate, Quinn had spent a better part of the last 30 minutes just pushing things around with her fork. Her head was swimming with the knowledge she had learned last night and since then she had barely been able to concentrate.

"I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well." She lied, looking up from the table and across the room to where her brother was sitting in the living room. She couldn't even look him in the eye when she woke up that morning. After talking to Jacob and knowing what he and her brother were, she was finding it extremely hard to look at him the same way.

"Are you sure that's it?" Emily questioned, her eyebrow raised as if she somehow knew that Quinn wasn't being truthful.

"Yea, I'm sure." Quinn nodded, wishing she could fake a smile. This would be the appropriate time to do that. But she couldn't even fake it. "Why do you ask?"

"I just have this feeling like you have something on your mind." Her brother's future wife said, leaning closer and lowering her voice. "Did you talk to Jacob?"

"How did you..." Quinn couldn't even finish her sentence because she was so shocked. She didn't think her sneak out would have been discovered, but apparently Emily somehow knew.

"I walked by your room and saw your door wide open, but you weren't there and you weren't downstairs. But I heard Jacob's voice around the side of the house through the open window, so I knew you were most likely out there talking to him. So I went back to bed to give you guys some privacy." Emily explained, glancing over at Sam who looked back at her with a questioning look in his eyes. She turned back and said. "He told you, didn't he."

"Um...uh..." Quinn felt a suffocating hold catch onto her throat when her brother got up from the couch and approached the table with a frown on his face.

"Who told Quinn what?" Sam directed this statement at the two of them as he stood there with his arms crossed. His dark eyes were not friendly at all when he turned them on her. He already seemed to have guessed who they were talking about. His head turned fully in her direction and said. "Were you talking to Jacob Black after I specifically told you not to?"

"No...I mean yes...I mean, I was only...I was..." Quinn struggled to find the words to lie so this wouldn't end in a fight again. But as she looked up into Sam's furious face, all that went out the window. No matter how she put it, Sam was going to be pissed off. And after all the stuff Jacob had told her about the wolves and their tempers, she was more skittish around her brother then she normally was.

"Well?" Sam looked like he was on the verge of exploding and she hadn't even said anything.

"Sam, relax." Emily butted in , looking nervous. "There's no reason to get upset over nothing."

"Over nothing? You think this is nothing? She completely disregarded what I told her time and time again. She doesn't listen to me and she is trying to get away with sneaking out with a guy I have told her to stay away from..."

"He told me the truth. I know what he is and I know what you are!" Quinn shouted out of nowhere, causing both Sam and Emily's heads to snap towards her. She immediately slapped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late. The truth was out. And she was right. Sam was beyond pissed.

"He told you what?" Sam's entirely body began to shake and his hands curled into fists at his sides. Emily immediately shot out of her chair and moved a few feet away, waving at Quinn to do the same. It was only now that Quinn fully understood the truth about Emily's disfigurement and she wasted not even a second in following her.

"I know about the packs and the vampires and me being Jacob's imprint." Quinn managed to spit out only to see Sam's eyes grow bigger then they ever were. This was bad, very very bad. She shot a look over at Emily who nodded to the staircase and Quinn didn't even think before she shot for it and charged upstairs. She had just closed the door when Sam started shouting downstairs.

**

* * *

**

**2 hours later...**

"Are you done, or are you going to sulk some more?" Emily asked him when he had finally calmed down enough from shouting about Jacob and Quinn and took to sitting on the couch and glaring at the floor.

"I'm not sulking." Sam denied even though he knew he was. But he felt he had every right to do that**. **He had just been hit in the face with a major surprise and he wasn't going to be able to drop it so easily.

"Samuel Uley, do not disrespect me by lying to my face. I know you too well." Emily sat down next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Come on. Talk to me."

"There's nothing to say. I just found out that my little sister now knows the truth about me and the guys. There really isn't anything to say." Sam huffed, crossing his arms tighter around him. He hated that Jacob told her the truth. He hated that Jacob imprinted on her. He hated it so badly.

"I know you are upset, but you knew this day would come." Emily tried to reason in that gentle way of hers. "He imprinted on her, it was only a matter of time before he told her everything and you know it. I'm surprised he kept it to himself for this long."

"I know he was going to tell her, but that doesn't mean I like it." He snapped, sitting back and angrily began tapping his foot on the floor. "She's too young to be dealing with this."

"She's only a few years younger then you. And you weren't too young." Emily pointed out, stroking a piece of hair off his forehead. "You may not like Jacob, but he is a good kid and he will treat her well. He will take care of her. You know that."

"I don't want him to take care of her. That's my job. He can't have her." Sam snapped, feeling his anger start to dissolve and be replaced with a melancholy kind of feeling. He relaxed his body and turned towards Emily. "It's not fair."

"What's not fair?" Emily wanted to know, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "What is this really about? Because I don't think it is all about her being too young to be Jacob's soul mate."

"I'm just...it's just..." Sam gritted his teeth. He hated being vulnerable and he was quickly on the way to becoming that. He wouldn't have let that wall down with anyone but Emily. He sighed and placed his hand on hers."I'm scared."

"Of what?" Emily leaned her head against his and waited for him to speak.

"I'm scared of...I'm scared..." Sam had to force the words out of his mouth. It was hard to do. "I'm scared of losing Quinn to Jacob before I even have a chance to know my own sister. That's what I'm scared of."

"Oh Sam." Emily said quietly, hugging his tightly against her body. "You're not going to lose her."

"That's what it feels like." He mumbled, holding his fiancee close. "I finally have a chance to know my baby sister and now someone more important has come into her life. And it just feels like he is taking her away. And I don't want that to happen until I know her."

"You know..." Emily sat back and looked at him with a smile on her face. "Maybe Quinn needs to hear that instead of your yelling all the time."

"Yea, I do kind of yell a lot." Sam agreed, shaking his head. "It's just hard not to. Jacob is so infuriating. He and I have our own history and Quinn and I have yet to work through our issue. It's difficult."

"I know. But that's life. You just have to take it one step at a time."


	12. The Smile

**Chapter 11 The Smile**

**A few days later**_..._

"Hey beautiful. Need a ride?" Jacob called out through the open window of his car as he pulled over to the side of the road and grinned when the girl in question turned around and locked eyes with him. He hadn't planned on driving this way, but it seemed like once he had gotten behind the wheel, he had no control over his body and had winded up driving by Forks High School and came up right on the road where his girl was currently walking on.

"Yea, that would be great. Thanks." Quinn said to him, walking around the front of the car and slid into the front seat next to him and slammed the passenger door shut. She brushed her hair back from her face and turned to look at him. "Why did you drive up here? I don't think it was just to offer me a ride."

"I didn't actually plan to come up this way, but it just sort of happened and then there you were." Jacob replied, smiling as he put the car back into drive and started back down the road again. "Obviously I wasn't going to just leave without looking for you."

"Well that's very sweet." Quinn observed, leaning against the window with her eyes focused on the road. He glanced at her for a second, wishing he could see her smile. He hadn't seen it yet and he was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen.

"I try to be." He joked, taking another look at her. Man, she was beautiful. Just utterly breath-taking, despite the sadness in her face. He hoped eventually he could make her feel better. It pained him to see her in such pain. He had to do something about it. "So listen, there was actually something I wanted to ask you."

"What's that?" Quinn turned her head to look at him with her blue eyes and he was momentarily stunned and he struggled to regain composure enough to act normal.

"I don't know if your brother told you or not..." Jacob started to say but she interrupted him at the small mention of her brother.

"Sam doesn't tell me anything. He doesn't actually talk to me." She snapped harshly, crossing her arms tight across her body and sent a disgruntled look at the dirt road he was driving on.

"Never mind, my point was that the reservation is having this bonfire night party tonight down on the beach and I wanted to invite you to come with me." Jacob told her, waiting for her answer with stomach doing cartwheels inside of him. He didn't know what she would say to him asking her on their first technical date. She may have been his Imprint, but she could still say no and shut him down.

"You want me to go as your date? Really?" She asked, sounding like she couldn't believe he was asking her that.

"Yes, really." He laughed at the absurdity of the situation. "Why would think I didn't?"

"Because I'm a mess and I wouldn't be that much fun to be around." She shrugged, sighing heavily and rubbed her face with her small hands. "So if you want a date that you will enjoy then maybe you should ask someone else."

"There will never be anyone else. And I don't care how much of a mess you are, every moment I spend with you is fun and I enjoy it a lot." He told her with absolute certainty. It was the truth after all. There was never a time when he was around her that he wasn't happy. "I wouldn't want to have anyone else by my side except for you."

"Alright, you are going to make me cry." Quinn covered her face with her hands as she spoke. "Ok, I'll go. Just don't leave me alone unless I say so. I don't know anyone else out here."

"That's partially the point of going to bonfire night, so you can get to know other people." Jacob told her, turning into the empty space in front of her house. He was relieve to see that Sam was not home. The last thing he needed was to bring on a fight.

"What if I just want to spend time with you?" Quinn's pretty face flushed red and she looked away shyly which only made Jacob like her more. He reached over and touched her hand to get her attention and smiled.

"We can arrange that."

* * *

**A few hours later...**

"I can't believe I agreed to this." Quinn whispered to herself as she sat on the porch and waited for Jacob to show up. He was supposed to arrive any minute and the nerves were starting to set in. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt anything other then sadness in the last couple of months. But with Jacob asking her out on their first date, she had been bombarded by this tidal wave of emotion. It took her by surprise because it felt unfamiliar. She couldn't remember what it felt like to feel nervous when waiting for a boy to pick her up. Not that she ever did much dating before all this, but she did have the occasional boyfriend. But still, it had been so long since she had done something as carefree as go on a date. And here she was, about to do just that. Could she handle it?

"Penny for your thoughts?" A husky sounding voice as from out in the yard and Quinn broke free from her thoughts and lifted her head to lock eyes with Jacob as he started walking away from his car and over to the porch. He was dressed simply in jeans and a long sleeved black shirt but the way he moved and the way he looked just made the air freeze in her throat and her stomach turned over in a flutter. She felt her face shift as she stared at him as he came up the steps and paused in front of her with his mouth hanging open as if out of shock.

"What?" Quinn immediately brought her hands up to her face and hair, thinking she looked like a mess and that's why he was looking at her weird. "Do I look that bad?"

"No, not at all." Jacob shook his head quickly. He sat down next to her and reached out to bring her hands down from her face. "You look as beautiful as you always do."

"Then why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, not confused that she looked fine. He still had that look on his face, an expression of disbelief.

"You don't know?" He frowned when he questioned her and when she shook her head he started laughing. He released her hands and sat back with his arms crossed. "Quinn, you're smiling. For the first time."

"No." Quinn whispered, jumping up from her chair and rushing down the steps and over to Jacob's car. She skid to a stop in front of the window and stared at her reflection in the glass. She brought her fingers up to her lips and gasped. "Oh my god I am smiling."

"Yes you are." Jacob said, sounding pleased as he came up behind her. "I'm so glad I was able to be here to see you smile for the first time."

"Wow. This is weird." Quinn mumbled, staring at herself, almost not recognizing the girl looking back at her. It didn't even seem real. She hadn't smiled since before her mom had died, it was like she had forgotten how to do it. And then Jacob shows up and out of nowhere, it suddenly happens. It truly took her by surprise. "You're a miracle worker, you know that?"

"I wouldn't go that far, but whatever." Jacob shrugged off the compliment. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Actually it kind of is. I never thought I would smile again." Quinn pointed out, unable to look away from herself. "It's kind of nice."

"It's more then nice. It's great." Jacob grinned over her shoulder and then motioned to the door. "Shall we?"

"Yes." She nodded quickly and allowed him to open the door for her and she climbed into the car while he walked around the front and also got in. Once they were in that enclosed space together, Quinn found that she couldn't stop grinning. Jacob was definitely the reason for that. It was nice to be around someone who could do that for her.

"You'll have fun tonight. I promise." Jacob started the car and began backing down the dirt driveway towards the road. "And we will have fun because I know for a fact that your brother is not going to be there. Emily made him take her out so we have no chance of running into him."

"You and her planned this, didn't you?" Quinn asked shaking her head. It sounded exactly like something Emily would do. And it couldn't have been more perfect.

"We might have schemed just a little bit..."

**

* * *

**

**Down at La Push beach...**

"Now just as a warning, some of the guys are a little outspoken and they don't always keep their mouths shut." Jacob told Quinn as they got out of his car and began making their way towards the beach. "So don't feel offended if they say something embarrassing."

"I'm sure they have more dirt to embarrass you with then me." Quinn replied with a shrug, smiling to herself as she walked beside him. "After all, you guys are all wolves. They're your friends right?"

"True, but we are no longer part of the same pack and that sometimes makes things tense. Even with being friends." He explained, looking ahead to where there was a small crowd gathered by the bonfire set in the middle of the sand. He could see some of his friends standing off to the side talking to each other and he just hoped they would behave themselves. "It will be fine. They are all good guys, just a little nuts sometimes."

"Sounds dangerous." She said with a slight laugh. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about being around this many wolves."

"Then it's a good thing I'm here to protect you." Jacob smirked and then before he could stop himself, he reached across the empty space between them and took her hand. He could feel the surprise reaction when their skin touched but she visibly relaxed after a moment and squeezed his hand back. She ended up walking closer to him which he liked a lot. "Don't be nervous."

"And why is that?" She asked, but he never got a chance to answer, because at that moment his friends caught sight of him and they all charged over to where he and Quinn were standing.

"Yo Jake you finally decided to show your face." Paul was the first one to say something which wasn't a total surprise. He always had to be the one to speak for the others. "Looks like you brought some fresh meat to the party."

"Dude, shut up that's Sam's sister." Seth Clearwater said from the back of the group and Jacob shot him a grateful grin.

"Wait, you're Sam's sister?" Quil asked Quinn with a surprised look on his face. "You don't look all that much alike."

"Thanks. I think." Quinn laughed, stretching out her arm to Quil, who shook her hand. "Quinn."

"Quil."

"Paul."

"Jared."

"Embry."

"I'm Seth, nice to meet you."

"So you guys must be the pack members, right?" Quinn asked, a slight tinge of nervousness attached to her voice as she spoke. Jacob took that moment to slip his arm around her waist and she smiled at him gratefully.

"Well, not all of us are in the same pack anymore." Embry answered with a shrug. "But we used to be."

"And I'm sure Jacob explained all that." Paul snicked evilly in that infuriating way of his.

"Not everything. But most of it." Jacob sent Paul a look that basically said to shut up. He hadn't told Quinn the real reason why he wasn't still apart of Sam's pack. Just like he hadn't told her anything about Bella. He couldn't explain one without telling her about the other. He was waiting for a better time.

"So you know about us huh?" Jared questioned thoughtfully. "The whole story?"

"I know that you all are wolves, if that's what you're getting at." Quinn said, tightening her arm around his waist. This action made him grin even wider.

"Great." Paul said jokingly, throwing his hand in the air. "Another chick who knows our secrets."

"Well, it's not really a secret if she is his Imprint." Seth pointed out logically. "So she is allowed to be in on it."

"And I'm sure Sam is happy about that." Paul huffed, trying to cause trouble. "What does he think about this?"

"I don't know. I don't really care what Sam thinks to be perfectly honest." Quinn replied, looking up at him with a small curve on her lips. Jacob almost wanted to laugh, but he held back. Sure it was a little tense, but it seemed to be ok. At least for now. Who knew what the rest of the night may bring? And with Paul looking to stir things up, he couldn't be quite sure how the night would end.

"Interesting."

* * *

**A few hours later...**

"Hey. I remember you." A hesitant voice spoke from behind her as she watched Jacob horse around with his friends. He had left her here on this sand dune at her request while he hung out with the guys. And she had no problem with that. She like having alone time. Quinn turned her head and spotted a taller girl with short black hair standing not too far away. She almost didn't know who she was until the girl came closer and it hit her.

"I remember you too. You're Leah, right?" Quinn asked, just to be sure. It had been a while since she had spoken to Leah on the day she had run out on Sam when they had argued.

"Yea, Leah Clearwater." She nodded, walking over to stand beside Quinn and looked over to where the boys were wrestling in the sand. "So you came with Jacob."

"Yea, he wanted me to meet his friends and all." Quinn answered, turning to the older girl. "He recently told me some personal stuff and thought it would be good for me to get out and meet other people."

"I figured it was only a matter of time before Jake caved in and told you about us." Leah laughed and visibly rolled her eyes. "But I have to say I am surprised he brought you here."

"Why is that?"

"Well, considering that you're Sam's little sister and Jacob's Imprint, and the fact that those two hate each other, I would have thought he wouldn't have wanted to risk being seen with you." Leah said, pursing her lips. "No offense or anything."

"Oh I am not offended." Quinn replied with a wave of her hand. "I know Sam and Jacob can't stand each other."

"Did either of them tell you exactly why?" Leah asked curiously, like she knew something big. And she probably did.

"I don't talk to Sam unless I have to. And Jacob mentioned earlier that he didn't explain everything, but he didn't elaborate on it. So I'm still kind of in the dark." Quinn explained, wondering what the real story was behind Sam and Jacob's hatred for each other. Something bad to have happened to pull them apart, especially since people said they were friends at one point. "I don't suppose you could tell me why they can't stand each other."

"I normally would love any chance to trash Sam, but since it involves Jacob and he is my friend, I will have to resist." Leah told her with a grimace. "Jacob would kill me if I told you the whole story before he could."

"I guess that is fair enough." Quinn agreed, smiling at Leah who, while she wasn't smiling back, had at least stop scowling. "So is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"That you are the only female wolf on the reservation?"

"Try, the only one known in existence. I'm the odd one out in this group. I'm the weird one." Leah glared at the ground as if it were the one saying that she was weird and abnormal.

"Trust me, you're not the only one who is weird around here."

**

* * *

**

**At the end of the night...**

"So did you have fun?" Jacob asked, taking Quinn's hand after helping her out of the car. The ride back to her house had been a quiet one and the entire time he had been itching to touch her again, and it was only now that he was getting the chance. They walked towards the dark house together and once again Jacob was glad to see that Sam wasn't home. He was going to have to thank Emily for getting him out of the house and keeping him out.

"I did actually." Quinn told him, brushing her hair out of her eyes and looked at him. "Despite the fact that your friends are a little nuts and a bit too much."

"I did warn you about them." He reminded her as they ascended the wooden steps and took a seat on the bench set against the side of the house. "But I think the more interesting thing is that I saw you talking to Leah for a while."

"Yea, she's actually pretty cool, once you get past the tough exterior." She said, leaning back and set her feet up on the railing.

"What did you talk about?" He wanted to know. It honestly made him pause for a second or two to think about Leah having a conversation with someone that lasted more then 5 seconds. Leah didn't have the best track record when it came to relating to people.

"Just about the stuff you told me about, her little brother, and then...we talked about Sam." Quinn finished quietly, pulling her loose hair over one shoulder. "He really messed her up big time, didn't he?"

"Yea he did. And to this day I don't think either of them has gotten over it." Jacob reflected on all the times he had to listen to Leah's pain, it was torture. "Why do you bring that up?"

"I don't know. I guess it's just always been a fear of mine that something like that could happen to me. And it's hard for me to open up to people in the first place." Quinn said, tilting her head back against his shoulder. "Promise you won't hurt me like that."

"I wouldn't even dream of it." He assured her with a squeeze of his arm and then nodded towards the door. "I guess I have to let you go inside now huh?"

"I suppose so. Sam and Emily could be back soon and I don't want him to ruin this night. Because I did have fun." She told him, smiling as they both stood up and walked across the porch towards the door. She stopped with one hand on the knob and turned to look at him with a questioning look on her face. "Am I going to see you tomorrow?"

"If you want to then yes." He nodded, bringing his hand up to cup her face and he stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Good night Quinn."

"Good night Jacob." She called out to him, as he began walking down the steps and towards his car. He heard her open the door and then it slammed shut as she disappeared inside. He climbed behind the wheel of his car and was about to put the keys in the ignition when he stopped. He looked through the windshield up at the house and saw lights being turned on downstairs. He watched Quinn pass by a window and glance outside over at him. She looked at his face for a moment and smiled before turning away. That look was enough to spur Jacob to get back out of the car and dart across the grass and up the steps to her door. He didn't know why he was doing this, but he had a sudden urge to be near her again. She must have seen him coming, because she met him out on the porch with a confused look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot something." He said without thinking. The thought of what he was about to do hadn't entered his mind all night until he saw her just now. And when he thought hard about it, he realized he had been waiting to do it since the day he met her all those weeks ago. And it was only now that he had the courage to do it.

"What did you forget?" She asked, stepping away from the door and over to the spot in front of him.

"This." He said simply. He then closed the gap between them and took her face between his hands and before he could lose his nerves, he lowered his face and pressed his lips against hers.


	13. The Kiss

**Chapter 12 The Kiss**

_I think my heart is going to pound out of my chest._

_I feel dizzy._

_My stomach is flip flopping so much that I think I'm going to throw up._

_He's kissing me. Jacob is kissing me. And I really, really like it._

_Oh my..._

Quinn felt every thought in her head charge through her brain at breakneck speed and she could barely latch on to anything to make sense of what was going through her at that moment. The second Jacob's lips made contact with hers, it felt like her body was no longer her own. She felt an explosion in the pit of her stomach and it set off a fire all over her skin that she had never experienced before. This was new and different. It had been so long since she had felt anything other then sadness, and to feel something so strong just from a simple kiss was a little scary. But it was exciting. Sure she had kissed boys before, but never had it been this intense. This was on an entirely different level. She didn't want to be anywhere else but here with him. If she could, she would go on kissing him forever without ever coming up for air. He seemed so perfect for her in so many different ways. But it was the physical aspects that drew her even closer to him. His body was strong and broad compared to her tiny and delicate frame but it seemed to fit like a puzzle piece against hers. She wasn't scared of being that close to a boy for the first time in her life. It seemed natural, like he had always been the one for her. She touched his strong back with her fingers, wanting to know what it felt like to touch every part of him. But his mouth felt like it was everywhere, her skin lit up in response to his kiss and eventually she had to pull back briefly just to get her lungs filled with air again.

"Wow." Jacob whispered softly, his dark eyes looking down at her intently while his hands remained on her face. "I wasn't expecting that."

"Me either." She said, closing her eyes and willed her heart to stop pounding so hard. She was sure he could hear it, it was that loud to her own ears. She looked at him, his face alive and intense and she felt her stomach flutter again. "Did you know you were going to end up kissing me tonight?"

"No. I mean, I thought about it since the day we met, but I didn't want to expect anything to happen until we knew more about each other." Jacob explained, his fingertips touching her face as he spoke. "But when I saw you through the window, it was like the desire to kiss you had become more urgent and I just had to do it."

"I'm glad you did." Quinn admitted, smiling as she leaned back against the side of the house. "I can't believe I was able to be around you this long and not know what it was like to experience that kiss. It was..."

"Amazing?" He offered the word with a grin of his own, dropping his hands down to his side and stepping backwards to look at her. "I've heard about what it is like to kiss a soul mate, but the talk did not even compare to the moment we just had."

"It's weird, because up until now I haven't felt much of anything other then pain and anger and sadness. And then you just walk up and do something as simple as kiss me and not only do you make me feel this rush of emotion, but I actually felt alive for an instant." Quinn told him, feeling her eyes start to water slightly. "Like I wasn't broken anymore."

"I know, I can see the light in your eyes when you pulled away. You were happy, I could tell." He said, brushing away a fallen tear and cupped her face in his hand. "I want to see you like that again."

"Then do something for me." Quinn stated, standing up straight and stepped forward with her hands at her side and looked up at him.

"What do you want me to do?" Jacob asked, his eyebrow raised as if he already knew the answer.

"Kiss me."

That was all she had to say before he had his arms around her waist and was pulling her forward against his chest. His lips came down on hers for the second time, but with a more intense rush then before. Quinn drew her own arms around his shoulders and drew him as close to her as she could. All the while she couldn't help but think that this was a turning point, she was at a crossroads, but she wasn't alone.

She had Jacob.

* * *

_She is so beautiful._

_Her body is so delicate, I'm afraid I'll break her if I squeeze too hard._

_Her skin is soft and silky. I just want to touch her._

_I could kiss her all night if I could..._

Jacob felt his entire body come alive when he kissed her. He felt it the first time just minutes ago and he felt it now. It was like he had been asleep for a very long time and the feeling of her mouth on his was the thing that woke him up. Every nerve in his body was alert when their lips met and a shock ran through him every time she moved her hands to a new spot on his body. She seemed to want to feel every part of him, like it was an adventure to her hands. She pressed against him until there was no space between her body and his. They were molded together like they were one being and he could swear he felt her heart pounding in her chest. It was hard to tell since his heart was doing pretty much the same thing. But that wasn't the most intense part, it was the fact that by kissing her again, he felt every pain or frustration he had ever experienced in his life, be stripped away until he felt nothing but calmness and joy. She brought that out of him. Sam could walk by at this very moment and Jacob was so happy that he was sure that even Sam's presence couldn't bother him. But now that the thought was in his head, the reality had come back and he reluctantly had to pull back from her.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her delicate face frowning in disappointment.

"I have to let you go now." He told her, even though it drove him crazy to say that. "Your brother could come home any minute and he will probably kill me if he saw me standing on his porch making out with his little sister."

"You're a wolf, you can fight back." She joked, her arms still around him as were his. Neither of them seemed ready to let go just yet. She looked at him with her sky blue eyes and asked, "Do you really have to go?"

"I really should." He nodded, wishing he didn't have to. But if Sam did show up, it would ruin the perfect ending to the night and he didn't want to remember it like that. He wanted to leave it unspoiled and to do that, he had to leave before it was too late.

"Alright." Quinn sighed heavily, dropping her arms down and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I should say good night and go inside."

"If I could stay here with you then I would." He said to her and she looked at him again with a slight sparkle in her eyes. "But until your brother and I can stand being in the same room together,it will be best for everyone if I leave now."

"You're right. Sam would just ruin everything if he showed up. And I'd rather you not be hurt the next time we have a moment like this." She smiled at him shyly, which he found endearing.

"Next time? There's going to be a repeat of this?" He asked jokingly, laughing when her mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Well...yea. I mean, don't you want that?" She asked, shrinking away in embarrassment.

"I was just kidding. Of course I want a repeat." Jacob announced, wrapping her up in a hug. "I want millions of repeats."

"Good." She replied simply, brushing her hair out of her face. She turned on her heels to head back to the door, but instead, she skipped back over to him and wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him forward until their lips met for a third time. He kissed her back, almost forgetting his vow to leave at that moment until she shoved him gently towards the stairs. "Ok, you can go now."

"Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow." He said, knowing he would have to make it happen. Now that he kissed her, he wanted to do it over and over again. It would be torture to have to wait till tomorrow, but it would be that much more exciting when they were finally together. So he forced himself to wave goodbye to her and made his feet move towards his car. He climbed in behind the wheel and watched as she went inside and closed the door behind her. After that, he couldn't see her, so he put the car in drive and backed out on to the dirt road to go home to his own house. He smiled as he drove under the trees, knowing he was going to have very pleasant dreams tonight.

**

* * *

****At midnight**

_I can't stop thinking about him..._

Quinn laid in bed, staring at the shadows in the corners of her bedroom and tried once again to will herself to sleep. But just like the other times, she had been unsuccessful and was forced to admit defeat. She rolled over on her back and looked up at the ceiling with her blankets piled around her waist and her head full of the same thing that had been keeping her awake since she had first climbed into bed hours ago. And that was Jacob.

Quinn smiled in the darkness at the memory of their first kiss. It was going to be something that she never forgot. Not just because it was the first kiss with a good guy, but because it had evoked so many feelings inside of her, making her realize what it felt like to be human again. She had been feeling so out of sorts since her mom's death and she walked around most days like an empty body searching for it's soul. And although she had felt sadness and anger, it wasn't enough to make her feel strong and powerful. It didn't make her feel alive. But Jacob's kiss had broken that barrier and she suddenly remembered how it felt to feel happiness and joy again. It didn't take away her pain, but it opened the door to the possibility of her healing. All from a simple kiss. It made her feel so different, like she was someone else. She felt calm and happy like any normal 17 year old girl. Kissing Jacob was fun and it gave her something else to think about, other then what had been happening so far in her life. And she wanted to do it over and over again. That was something she hadn't expected, how much she would enjoy kissing him. Her entire body reacted in a way that it hadn't before. She had never been much of an affectionate girl, never really being too into the idea of being physical with a boy. It had always terrified her. But with Jacob, she felt safe, like being in his arms was enough to keep out the rest of the world. And more importantly it made her feel like he wouldn't push into something she wasn't ready for. It was definitely a go with the flow kind of thing.

"I shouldn't be thinking about this. Now I can't sit still." Quinn whispered to herself as she threw back her blankets and planted her feet on the floor. Remembering everything she had felt during the kiss had reignited her energy and there was no way she was going to be able to sleep. "I think I'm going to go for a walk."

Quinn slipped on some shoes and grabbed a sweater and her phone before she opened her door and quietly made her way passed Sam and Emily's room and down the stairs. She wasn't worried about being caught because she knew they were in a dead sleep. They had come home not long after she had and gone right to bed, which happened at least 4 hours ago. So she was confident her disappearance would go unnoticed. She grabbed her keys from the hook by the door and almost silently exited the house and darted across the yard to the dirt road and began walking. The moon was visible and there was a slight breeze blowing which forced her to wrap the edges of the sweater tight around her small body. There was enough light from the moon to make her sure of where she was going. She walked past the forest and other houses and just listened to the silence around her. It was like the world had gone to sleep and she was the only one awake. It felt good to be out of Sam's house, she needed time to herself. But when she got out here, Quinn realized that being alone was not what she wanted. She wanted to be with someone in this silence. Not necessarily to talk, but to at least know she had someone there.

"I wonder if Jacob is awake." She said out loud, reaching for her phone. She flipped it open and sent him a message asking him that before walking to the side of the road and sat down against the side of a tree to wait and see if he would respond. It didn't take long before she felt her phone buzz in her pocket and she pulled it out with a smile.

_Hey beautiful. What are you doing awake?_

Quinn felt her cheeks heat up when she read his message. It made her breath pause in her throat because she hadn't had a guy make her feel that beautiful until Jacob came along. She quickly formed a response of her own.

_I couldn't sleep because I had too many thoughts going through my head. So I'm taking a walk right now._

Quinn leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes. It was so peaceful out here, sitting in the dark texting Jacob, who had sent another message almost instantly.

_You're walking around in the dark alone? Are you crazy? Go home where it's safe._

She shook her head so that her hair fell over her shoulder. She knew he was right. After everything he had told her about supernatural creatures, it was practically inviting trouble to be out in the dark all by herself. But she wasn't entirely ready to go home yet.

_Can I come see you instead?_

Quinn stood up in the grass and started walking again, only this time in the direction of Jacob's house. She was pretty sure he wouldwant her to be there with him rather then wandering around alone, so she didn't wait for his response. But when her phone vibrated a minute later, she still opened the message to read it.

_Of course you can come see me. I couldn't sleep either. But get here right away or else I'm going to worry. See you in a little bit..._

**

* * *

**

**8 minutes later...**

_Where is she?_

Jacob sat on the steps of his porch and looked out into the moonlit yard and searched for any sign of Quinn, but he saw nothing. No movement, no shadows, he didn't even hear her footsteps. He was starting to get worried. He hadn't received a reply from her after his last message and he was hoping that nothing was wrong. He knew walking from her house to his would take a couple of minutes, but almost 10 minutes had passed and there was no sign of her anywhere. He was starting to get the feeling that he should have just met her wherever she was. But instead, he ignored his gut and just let her come to him. What was he thinking? She was a defenseless, girl and with this place crawling with vampires and god knows what else, something could have happened to her. And if that were true, then he would never be able to forgive himself. Not to mention Sam would find some way to make him pay for it.

"Jacob?" Quinn's voice called out to him from across the yard and his head snapped up to see her stepping out of the tree line. Even in the dark he could see the outline of her body and he relaxed when she started walking towards him.

Jacob jumped up from the steps and rushed through the cold grass until he came face to face with her. As soon as she was near enough, he grabbed her in his arms and squeezed her tight just to make sure she was real. She hugged him back just as hard, a clear indicator that she was thrilled to see him too. When he loosened his grip, he turned his gaze down to her face and asked, "What the hell took you so long?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you." Quinn replied, her arms still around his waist. He could feel her cool breath on his face when he held her. She moved her head so she could look at him and said, "I had a vision."

"Are you serious? Just like that?" He asked, noticing that the moonlight lit up the beads of sweat on her forehead and her breathing was a little on the heavy side. He led her over to the porch steps and once they were sitting on the top step, he asked, "What did you see?"

"I'm not really sure." She answered back with a shrug, setting down the phone and keys she had been carrying. "I was just walking on the road and then my eyesight got wobbly, so I knew I was going to see something. But when I saw it, I couldn't really tell who it was. I just saw flashes of bodies going by and I heard screams, like there was a fight going on, but I couldn't see any faces. So I don't know exactly what was being shown to me, but I just have this feeling that there is going to be this big fight sometime in the not so distant future. I'm sure of it."

"Is it usually spot on? Like you see exactly what the end result will be?" Jacob asked, wondering if her visions were anything like Alice Cullen's vision or better. Like if it was affected by people's indecisions. Could Quinn see more accurately then Alice could? Did she have any blind spots like Alice did? Could she see the rest of the pack, or Sam?

"It's always the same and it always turns out true. There's never a mistake, I learned that over the years. I always see exactly what's going to happen, which is why my hands are shaking right now." She held them out to him and he touched them only to feel them quivering in his palms. "So whatever I saw just a few minutes ago is going to definitely happen."

"That's crazy." Jacob couldn't think of anything else to say, so he just sat there and held her hands. Eventually the shaking stopped and she relaxed against him, with her head on his shoulder. He maneuvered his body until he was leaning against the railing and she was sitting in front of him between his legs. She settled back on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her before asking the question he was most curious about. "Have you ever had visions of me, other then the time you saw me attacked?"

"Once or twice." Quinn spoke quietly, her hands resting on his knees. "Before we met, I had a brief vision of your face, but of course I didn't know who you were. But the next day, we met on the beach. And then another time, I saw you walking through the woods towards Sam's house and that was the first night you and I snuck out together."

"So you can see wolves...interesting." He replied thoughtfully. This was big. If Quinn could see wolves, even in their human form, then that was an extremely effective weapon. They could rely on her vision a lot more then Alice's.

"You sound like you had doubts about me being able to have visions of wolves. Why wouldn't I be able to see that?" She asked, twisting his arms to look at him. The moon caught her face and he saw the frown on her lips. "Do you know someone who can't see wolves?"

"I'll explain that another time." He told her, not wanting to get into it and she must have sensed that because she nodded and fell silent. She still looked at him and he had to smile. "But right now, I just want to enjoy being here with you."

"Me too." She agreed, leaning her cheek against his chest. "You know the real reason why I couldn't sleep?"

"I have no idea." He tightened his grip on her and she did the same in response. "Tell me."

"The kiss." She smiled at him and it set off a flurry of butterflies in his stomach. "I couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. Can we have a repeat?"

"You don't have to ask me twice." Jacob said breathlessly before their faces came together and they were kissing. She moved around until she was almost facing him and placed her hands on his chest as if she were trying to feel his heart beat. His fingers got lost in her long hair and his skin tingled as if it were an aftershock effect. He didn't know how long they sat there on those steps kissing, but at some point, she fell asleep against his chest and he followed soon after. It was the easiest sleep he had ever encountered.

* * *

**6:15 a.m …...**

"I cannot believe we fell asleep on your porch." Quinn said softly to Jacob as they stood just inside the tree line and looked over at the darkened house across the yard. "But what I can't believe even more is the fact that we got back before Sam woke up. Are pressing our luck at this point?"

"Maybe a little bit." Jacob agreed, squeezing her hand as he spoke. "But it's worth it."

Quinn had to agree with him. It was worth the risk. It added a heightened excitement to their senses, knowing that Sam could catch them. But Quinn wasn't about to see how far she could push that luck. It was a miracle they had woken up this early and hightailed it through the woods back to Sam's house before any one had gotten out of bed. She wasn't about to tempt fate and see what else could happen. It would ruin the peaceful feeling that had come over her since she had woken up 20 minutes ago and realized that the events of the day before had indeed happened. She and Jacob had kissed for the first time and she had fallen asleep in his arms. It couldn't have been a more perfect ending to the day. It was the closest to feeling happy that she had even been and she wanted it to stay that way. But first she had to know something. "Hey Jacob?"

"Yea." He leaned against the trunk of a tree and pulled her towards him.

"Now that we have shared our first kiss, does that mean we are officially in a relationship?" She asked, nothing how young and stupid it sounded. Who asked that kind of question anymore in this day and age?

"Babe, we were together long before I made the move to kiss you. Or did you forget all that I told you about imprinting?" He laughed and shook his head, bending down to kiss her.

"I just needed to make sure. It's different for you. You're a wolf and it doesn't work the same as if it were two normal people in our situation. You already know that we will be together in the end. But I'm not you and I needed to hear you say it." Quinn explained, kissing him back eagerly. His lips were so soft and he kissed her gently and passionately at the same time.

"Alright, if you need to hear me say it then I will." Jacob nodded and pulled back. "We are officially a couple. Happy now?"

"I would be if I didn't have to leave right now." She admitted, glancing towards the house, knowing she really should sneak back in. She turned her focus back to Jacob and smiled almost sadly. "I guess I should leave you here."

"Don't look so sad. It's not like this is the last time we will see each other." Jacob chuckled, standing up and placing his hands on either side of her face. "I'll call you later and we'll meet up. Alright?"

"Ok." She agreed with a quick shake of her head. He smiled down at her and then drew her towards him for one last kiss. She went to him willingly and relished the taste of his lips on hers. Every last nerve in her body was begging her to stay right in this spot and to keep on kissing him and she was almost about to allow that to happen when he was the one who stopped it. He touched her face with his fingers and then darted back into the trees and disappeared before she could say anything else. She watched the empty space and sighed out of contentment. She may not have been the happiest girl in the world at this point in her life. But thanks to Jacob, that was all changing.


	14. The Suspicions and Decisions

**Chapter 13 The Suspicions and decisions**

_Wow. I think I feel happy today..._

Quinn smiled as she stood at her window and stared down at the sun filled yard and thought long and hard about the last 24 hours and all that they had brought with them. It was certainly a turnabout from what the last few months had been like for her. It was weird how she went from being sad and lethargic one day to being completely happy and excited the next. It didn't feel natural because it happened so fast, but she hoped this feeling stuck with her so that in time it would feel like second nature. She didn't want to be sad anymore. She wanted to be happy and normal and believe that things were ok even w hen they weren't. For the longest time she had been unable to even pretend to fake being happy. She just never had the energy, at least until now. And after last night's perfect kiss with Jacob, Quinn felt like she could take on the world. Or at least face breakfast with Sam and Emily.

_Beep beep. _It was her cell phone buzzing on her desk. She walked across the room and reached for it, and when she flipped it open, she smiled again when she saw who the message was from.

_I couldn't stop thinking about you. I have to see you again. Meet me at the beach in 20 minutes. See you then. Love, Jacob._

"I can't believe this is for real." She said to herself as she stuffed her phone in her pocket and sat down on the floor to pull on her sneakers. Of course she was going to meet up with Jacob. There was no question about it. She tied her laces and stood up, leaving her room with a bounce in her step. She didn't hesitate for once about going down stairs and just went down the steps almost merrily. She walked into the kitchen and saw Emily putting together a small breakfast and she leaned against the counter with her arms crossed. "Hey."

"Oh good morning Quinn." Emily greeted with a smile, looking up to observe her and she smirked. "You look like you had a good night."

"I did. Very much." Quinn fought the cheesy grin that threatened to take over her face and inside looked down at the floor. "Thanks for getting Sam out of the way."

"It was no problem. I wanted to spend time with him anyway, so it worked out in the end when Jacob came to me for help." Emily answered, wiping her hands on a towel hanging on the oven door before walking over to where Quinn stood. There was a sparkle in Emily's eye and she asked mischievously. "So...did he do what I thought he was going to do?"

"Maybe." Quinn rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together, but she couldn't stop the smile that appeared on her face and she had to hide it by turning her head away. But Emily was already laughing, so she knew what the answer was going to be anyway. "He kissed me."

"Oh my god Quinn, that is so cute." Emily squealed, clapping her hands together in excitement, looking like a teenager herself. "I knew something was up when you came down. And you were smiling for the the first time since you got here. So I knew it had to be big. Was it totally great?"

"It was unexpected, but it was everything I thought a kiss with Jacob would be."Quinn felt a giggle start to build in her throat and she stopped it in its tracks. She refused to become one of those air head girls who giggle after being kissed. Still, her smile stretched wider across her lips and that was something she couldn't stop. "He wants me to meet him at the beach in a few minutes."

"Well then go. Have fun and enjoy yourself for once. You deserve that." Emily told her earnestly in a way that made a lump rise in Quinn's throat. "Jacob's such a good kid. And despite what Sam says and thinks, I think that Jacob will be good for you."

"Thank you. That means a lot." Quinn admitted, grateful to Emily's easiness about the situation. She was always willing to help Quinn in anyway possible. And it was nice to have someone to turn to in moments like these. "I'll see you later."

"Bye." Emily called out before returning to the kitchen to finish making breakfast while Quinn skipped over to the door and grabbed her bag from the hook it was hanging on. She waved to Emily one more time before slipping passed the screen door and jumping down the wooden steps to the ground. She was debating what would be the best way to get to the beach, by the dirt road or through the woods.

"Where are you going?" A gruff sounding voice asked and Quinn's head snapped up to see her brother walking towards her. His face was drawn tight and a frown had settled on his lips, suggesting that he was in a bad mood. But even that couldn't make her nervous.

"Just for a walk." She told him innocently. She didn't think it was a bad thing to tell a little white lie to Sam, it would save them both a big fight. Besides, she was already thinking ahead to when she would see Jacob and that made her stomach flutter rapidly. "It's actually nice out. I want to enjoy it."

"What's going on?" Sam asked suddenly, looking suspicious and he crossed his arms and braced his legs, looking very much like an authoritative figure. But it didn't make her feel uneasy at all. She felt too good this morning to be bothered by her brother.

"What do you mean?"Quinn asked, curious about what would make him think something was going on.

"You have this smile on your face, the first one I have ever seen since you came here." He pointed out, looking intently at her. "And I'm just wondering what that is about."

"It's nothing. I guess I just feel happy today." Quinn shrugged, it wasn't a total lie. She did feel happy and it wasn't entirely because of Jacob. Something else had changed within her for the better.

"Ok..." Sam said, sounding like he doubted it. "That's a good enough reason, I suppose."

"Yes it is." Quinn agreed with a shake of her head. "It's not anything big, it's just by chance that I'm happy today."

"I'm glad, then." Sam said, looking down at his feet and then motioned toward the house. "I assume Emily's making breakfast, right?"

"You assume correct. She was just waiting for you to come back." Quinn explained, side stepping around her brother and made a beeline for the road. He still watched her carefully, as if trying to figure out what she was up to."See you later Sam."

"Bye Quinn."

* * *

**La Push Beach**

"You actually talked pleasantly to Sam?" Jacob asked in complete surprise when Quinn told him about her encounter with her brother outside the house. He was shocked that she talked to his former Alpha leader without it falling apart into a shouting match. Quinn had told him that was usually how it ended and he was happy for her that it hadn't this time. Even though she wouldn't admit it, he knew how much it hurt her when they fought. He could see it in Quinn's eyes, that even when she was professing her hate for Sam, she still cared about him. But he knew that she still had a lot of anger and pain related to Sam to get through before the two of them could have a normal brother and sister relationship. But for right now, he was just glad to see some progress made. "How did you pull that off?"

"I was still in a good mood from last night." Quinn said quietly, looking down shyly and dug her foot into the sand. "And I was feeling happy enough to be able to take on the task of talking nicely with my brother."

"That's one of the few times you have said that Sam is your brother." Jacob pointed out to her as they walked closer to the water. Her hand brushed against his as they moved side by side through the sand. It wasn't until they were sitting down before he actually went to touch her. She accepted his hand and moved closer to him as he spoke. "In the time that I have known you, you don't ever refer to him as your sibling."

"I have a hard time believing it sometimes. He still feels like a stranger to me." Quinn replied, setting her elbow on her knee and placing her chin in her hand. She looked thoughtful for a second. "I mean, Sam hasn't been in my life except for maybe one or two times before he showed up at my mom's funeral. If he wanted to know me, then he would have made the effort to acknowledge my existence. But he didn't, so I can hardly call him my brother."

"But he is your brother, no matter how many times he has or hasn't seen you."Jacob told her, squeezing her fingers in his hand, wishing he could take away her pain. "I won't ever get along with him, but I know him well enough to know how he feels about certain things. And I know he wishes things were better between you guys."

"I don't want to hear you taking Sam's side." Quinn sighed and tilted her head to look at him. "I don't need to hear you sticking up for him."

"I wasn't..." Jacob tried to say but he ended up falling silent. This was not a battle he was going to win. Quinn obviously was not at the point where she could be rational about the Sam situation. "I was just saying..."

"I don't want to talk about this." Quinn stated, pulling her hand out of his and crossed her arms tightly. "Just drop the whole thing."

"Fine, it's dropped." He agreed and the two of them fell into silence as they sat there in the sand on the empty beach. Jacob watched Quinn as she stared out at the crashing waves and there was a far away look in her eyes as if she were thinking hard about something. He wished they had never started talking about Sam, it just made things uncomfortable and tense. And he wished he could take back the whole conversation and start over. He wanted to enjoy his time with Quinn and not have it ruined because of a sour subject. He nudged her with his hand until she turned to look at him and smiled sheepishly at her. "Are we ok?"

"Yea, we're ok." She assured him with a nod. "Don't worry about it."

"Good." He said simply, reaching out to pull on her arm until she moved over to his side. He wrapped an arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder and they watched the waves together. They were silent again, but this time it wasn't tense and it was only for a little while.

"Hey Jake?" Quinn placed her hands on his knee and drummed her fingers as she spoke. "Despite what I said about dropping the whole Sam subject, I have to say I am curious about something."

"What would that be?" He questioned, almost knowing exactly what she wanted to know.

"What happened between you and Sam?" Quinn tilted her head to look him in the eyes. "You never did explain it to me completely."

"I...just think that needs to wait." Jacob told her, reaching up with his fingers to brush her hair behind her ears. "That's a touchy subject of my own."

"Alright, I will respect that..."

**

* * *

**

**Back at the house**

"What's going on with Quinn?" Sam asked Emily as she stood in the kitchen wiping down the counters while he leaned against the doorway. He knew something was up with his sister. There had to be. She actually looked him in the eye this morning and talked to him normally. And it was a total surprise. He hadn't seen it coming at all. So he didn't know what to make of her suddenly bright attitude.

"What do you mean?" Emily looked up at him curiously, her hand paused in the air. "Nothing's going on with her. Why do you think something is wrong?"

"Because I know enough about people to know when their behavior is cause for concern. And the way Quinn was acting this morning, makes me suspicious." Sam explained, looking closely at Emily's face and knowing that his fiancee knew something that he didn't. "Not only was she smiling for the first time since she moved here, but she actually talked nicely to me. And my sister doesn't do that."

"That doesn't mean she is up to no good. Can't you just accept the fact that she may just be happy for no reason at all?" Emily asked, putting down the towel and walked over to him with her arms crossed. "Why do you have to question everything all the time?"

"Because I know something is going on, that's why." Sam snapped, feeling his anger flare up suddenly. "Just yesterday, she was still walking around with that glum look on her face and now of a sudden she is smiling? What's that about?"

"I don't know." Emily shook her head innocently, and Sam almost believed it, if it weren't for the slightly guilty look in her eyes. He walked over and wrapped his hand around her arm, taking her by surprise. "Sam! What are you doing?"

"You know something, I can tell." He stated, biting on the corner of his mouth. He hated that Emily knew something about his sister and he didn't. He hated that Quinn talked and confided in Emily when she wouldn't even give him a chance. And now it was clear that his future wife was keeping something secret and he was determined to find out what it was. "Tell me what it is."

"I can't do that." Emily replied, her lips pressing together tightly.

"Then I was right! Something is going on." Sam retorted, his grip tightening out of frustration. He already knew he was right, he was just waiting for her to confirm it.

"No, there isn't." Emily protested, leaning away to pull her arm out of his grasp and he let her go without fighting it. He felt bad when he saw her rub her upper arm from where he had grabbed her, but he wasn't ready to give in and back down.

"Don't lie to me. Tell me what she is doing." Sam hated the tone in his voice, it wasn't fair that he was speaking to Emily like this, but sometime his emotions got the best of him.

"I can't do that Sam."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not my place to tell you that."

"She's my sister! I have every right to know what is going on."

"She told me in confident and I'm not going to betray her trust." Emily snapped, her dark eyes blazing with anger as she stamped her little foot. "And remember one thing. If you weren't acting so crazy all the time then maybe she would want to talk to you, but you make everyone nervous every time you open your mouth."

"I do not." Sam denied fiercely.

"Oh yes you do. And you know it. So grow up." She snapped, walking passed him without even a look over her shoulder and headed towards the stairs. But she did pause on the first step and looked back for a moment. "Don't forget, when we get married, Quinn will be my sister too. And I'm not jeopardizing my relationship with her just because you are acting like a moron and being hormonal."

Sam watched her stomp up the rest of the stairs and then a second later, he heard the bedroom door slam shut and locked.

**

* * *

**

**Back at La Push Beach**

"What are you thinking about right now?" Jacob asked her as the two of them laid on their backs in the sand and stared up at the blue sky that was decorated by fluffy white clouds. They had been in this position for quite some time now and for the most part they had been in silence. There was no need to say anything, it was nice to just lay there and be quiet. Too many people weren't comfortable with silence and tried to fill it with uninteresting conversations. But Quinn wasn't one of them and she was perfectly content to stay by Jacob's side and not say anything. But apparently he could tell she was thinking about something and him being him, he had to comment on it.

"Nothing really." She replied, crossing her legs at the ankles and slipped her hands under her head. She didn't look at Jacob when she spoke because she knew if she did then she would have no choice to tell him what was on her mind.

"Why do I not believe you?" He asked, propping himself up on his elbow to look down at her.

"I have no idea." Quinn shrugged, feeling her lips start to tug down into a frown. Sometimes she hated that Jacob always sensed when her mind was elsewhere.

"Come on Quinn. I know you well enough to know that something is up. You have that look in your eyes again." He told her, laying back down and looked at the sky. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." She shot back, her tone coming out sharper then she intended it to. "Why does everyone assume something is wrong every time I am quiet?"

"It's not you being quiet. It's the expression on your face. You look sad again." Jacob mentioned carefully, not looking at her. "What brought that on?"

"Can you just let it go?" Quinn snapped, feeling something break inside of her and she felt herself jump up to her feet and take off towards the shoreline. She didn't look back to see if Jacob would follow her and just shuffled through the sand until she stopped just short of the water. The waves crashed to a stop not far in front of her and she watched them roll up the beach in a series of foam and bubbles before rushing back out again. There was something about being here that made her chest squeeze painfully and she thought moving away from Jacob and his prying questions would make her feel better. But it hadn't. She felt unsteady on her feet to the point where she dropped down to her knees and sat there in the sand and watched the water in front of her. She knew any second now that the tears would start rolling down her face and she was trying her hardest not to let that happen.

"Quinn, please talk to me." Jacob came up from behind and sat down beside her with his arms propped up on his knees. "What's really going on?"

"I...uh, it's..." Quinn trailed off into silence. How was she supposed to explain what she was feeling? How could she make him understand how it hit her so suddenly and out of nowhere? It was tough and every second that passed without her speaking about it made it even tougher. She looked at Jacob, who was looking at her and she sighed. "When we were lying in the sand looking up at the clouds, I had this moment of remembering something."

"What was it?" He asked, drawing a line in the sand with his finger.

"My mom." She replied, her hands digging into the loose sand by her knees. "She and I used to spend time, just sitting on the grass and looking at the clouds. We used to laugh at the weird shapes there were and took pictures lying on our backs just so we could remember those days."

"And you remembered that just now." Jacob finished for her, nodding his head before moving closer to her and putting his arm around her. "It's ok for you to talk to me if you're sad. You don't have to hide it from me."

"I know. It just hurts." Quinn looked up at Jacob and the moment their eyes met, the tears started falling. She fell against him and laid her cheek on his broad chest while he wrapped both arms around her. She clung to him tightly, desperate to disappear in his embrace. " I miss her so much."

"I know you do. And I'm sorry."

**

* * *

****Later that day...**

"Can we talk?" Sam asked Emily when he walked into the bed room and spotted her sitting in the window seat staring out into the yard. She didn't even look at him when he came in and he knew that she was still mad because of his outburst.

"If you feel like you have something to say then by all means speak." Emily replied, crossing her arms and continued staring out the window.

"I'm sorry about before. You were right and I was wrong." He said quickly, not liking apologizing but he knew he had to do it. It was the right thing to do.

"You actually admit that you messed up. Wow that's a shocker." Emily said sarcastically, turning to face him and stood up. She walked toward him with a frown on her lips. "You do know that your behavior was atrocious, right?"

"Yes I do.?"

"And that you were acting like a child?"

"Uh huh." Sam was feeling smaller and smaller by the second. He always felt that way when Emily was angry with him. Despite him being a wolf, Emily was the only one who managed to evoke feelings of shame and fear in him.

"And that you have no right to question my decisions or to suspect that something is going on behind your back without waiting for me to come to you first?"

"Yes." Sam was starting to cower in the doorway. This was worse then he expected. He knew Emily was going to make him feel bad, but he didn't think he would feel this bad.

"Do you also know that..."

"Yea?" Sam cringed, waiting for her to say the final blow.

"..that no matter what you do and no matter how bad you act,that I'm still going to love you?" Emily finished, a small smile stretching across her lips and Sam felt himself relax when she placed her hands on his shoulders. "I'm not mad at you anymore."

"Good, I'm glad." Sam replied, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close. "I hate it when you're mad."

"I agree that its not a pleasant feeling." She laughed, hugging him around the waist and propped her chin up on his chest. "Are you ok? You look like you have something else to say."

"I kind of did some thinking and I realized that you were right."

"Right about what?"

"Right about the fact that because I'm not the easiest to deal with, that's why Quinn doesn't feel comfortable talking to me. It took some time but it finally sank in that she will talk to me when she is ready and I can't force her to do it sooner or by asking you to betray her trust."

"You did a lot of thinking while we weren't talking, didn't you?" Emily smiled sweetly up at him and he leaned over to kiss her forehead.

"I sure did. I may be a hot head, but I do eventually come around." Sam sighed and looked at Emily. "I really am sorry about yelling at you about the whole Quinn thing."

"It's ok, you had to get it out at some point. I know you're frustrated."

"I am but I guess I have no choice but to wait until she comes to me."

"She will." Emily said softly, laying her head on his chest again and squeezed him tightly. "She'll talk to you."

"When?"

"When she is ready..."

**

* * *

**

**Later that afternoon...**

"Sorry about my meltdown earlier." Quinn said sheepishly as she walked hand in hand with Jacob through the woods back towards the house after leaving the beach a few minutes ago.

"Oh its ok. It's no big deal." He replied, squeezing her fingers and smiled at her as the leaves crackled under their feet. "Besides, you're really cute when you cry."

"Oh shut up." Quinn elbowed him in the ribcage and laughed when he staggered sideways. "Like you've never cried before in front of a girl before."

"Not recently, no." Jacob chuckled, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and drawing her close to him so he could kiss her forehead. "I'm glad you're feeling better though."

"Me too." Quinn agreed, smiling contently as she walked with him. "Even when I'm sad, if I'm with you, I always end feeling happy again."

"Glad to be of service." He joked, helping her over a fallen tree trunk before hopping over himself. "I suppose I'm fulfilling my duties as a good boyfriend then."

"Yes you are." Quinn nodded, tugging on his arm until he stooped and then wrapped her hands around his neck to pull his face down to her level. She needed to kiss him right now and thankfully he didn't hesitate at all and their lips met together for the first time that day. He tasted just as wonderful as he had the night before and when they separated, she was smiling again. She held her hands on his shoulders and said. "You're truly wonderful. Do you know that?"

"I do now." Jacob replied, stroking her lower back with his fingers. "But what I have to say next may cancel that out."

"How is that possible?" Quinn lifted her head away from him, curious as to why he would say such a thing.

"Because it has to do with Sam." Jacob answered slowly and Quinn pulled back at the mention of her brother. She was about to open her mouth and say something but Jacob cut in and spoke first. "I meant that it kind of has to do with Sam. But it mostly has to do with us."

"You're not making any sense." Quinn pointed out to him.

"Then I'll explain." Jacob led her over to a stump and they both sat down before he started talking. "I've been thinking long and hard about out situation and for a while I thought that actually not admitting out loud that we were sneaking around with each other was for the best. But since we've officially decided to date and we shared our first kiss, I'm wondering if that needs to change."

"What are you saying exactly? That we should go up to Sam and say that we are together?" Quinn jumped to her feet with her hands on her hips. "Are you crazy? Do you have a death wish?"

"That's being a little dramatic, don't you think?" Jacob looked amused but he stayed seated.

"Aren't you being naïve? You know how Sam is. He is going to freak out. He will yell and scream. Sam will totally lose his shit over this." Quinn hissed, almost picturing exactly how her brother would react. And it wasn't pretty. "I can't believe you were considering telling Sam the truth."

"Just a thought." Jacob shrugged and stretched his legs out in front of him. "So are you suggesting that we just keep it a secret?"

"Not forever. Just for a little while." Quinn told him, sitting back down on the stump and laid her arms on her knees. Her long hair fell on the sides of her face as she leaned over. "I'm not ashamed of us. I just think Sam will react better if we just give it time."

"Give it time." Jacob repeated her words slowly as he turned his head. "You really think waiting is going to make it any better?"

"No, not entirely. He will still have a fit, but I think it will be less of a blow up if we just keep it to ourselves for a little longer." Quinn explained, reaching out to touch his hand and he opened it to capture her fingers. "If we wait, then maybe things between Sam and I will get better. And if things are better, then maybe he won't care if we are dating."

"Do you even want to make things between with Sam?" He asked her honestly and she could only sigh in response.

"I haven't thought that far. I have to take it at my own speed until I feel comfortable with it." She hadn't really given it much thought yet, but she knew it would eventually come to that. "But if we don't rock the boat by telling the truth, then maybe things will be ok."

"So we wait then." Jacob sat up, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and touched her face with his hand and when she looked at him, he leaned in and kissed her. His lips on hers, calmed her nerves and she was grinning by the time she pulled away. He brushed her hair behind her ears and kissed her nose. "If that's what you really want, then we can wait."

"That's what we'll do. We will wait to tell Sam."

* * *

**Author's Note: So that is the last chapter for now. I decided to put this fic on hiatus for a few weeks so i can concentrate on some of my other stories. But don't worry, it wont be long until I am back with new chapters in the ongoing saga of Quinn and Jacob. Just think of it as a mid-season finale. When i come back, the craziness will start and so will all the drama. Just to tide you over, here is a preview of the second half.**

**

* * *

**

**Preview**

_**"...You're the Cullens? You're the vampires Jacob was telling me about?"-**_** Obviously Quinn meets Edward and Bella and their entire family. This storyline will be one of the main reasons i started writting this story. It just took a while to get going. And I promise it will be worth the wait.**

_**

* * *

**_

_**"It's like Edward read my mind."**_

_**"...I did read your mind." -**_**Quinn finds out that she can communicate with a vampire in a way no one thought possible. She isn't the only one who is surprised.**

**

* * *

**

"_...But I love her!"_

_"...I need space."_

_"...this engagement is over." -_Alot of personal drama ensues for everyone's relationships, and only time will tell which ones will survive.

**_

* * *

_****_"Alice, I can see the future too."-_Quinn indulges her secret to the one person who can understand. And in doing so, gains a valuable friendship in the process.**

**

* * *

**

_"You're not good enough for her."_

_"..I can't take it anymore. I just want it to end."_

_"...Stop hurting me." -_Intense moments unfold for Quinn, her family and those around her. Somethings aren't as they seem, so stick with it to see what is true or not.

_**

* * *

**__**"Sam!"**_

_**"What?"**_

_**"Quinn is missing!"-**_**Well well well, it seems like our little psychic has dissapeared. Where did she go? **

**

* * *

**

**_"So this is what it comes down to...choosing you or choosing them."_**

**_"Yes."_**

**_"I can't make that choice." -Someone has to make a tough decision, but who it is? And what happened to make it get to this point?_**

**_

* * *

_**

Thanks again for reading. Look for new chapters in a few weeks. Thanks for the wonderful feedback


	15. The In Between

**Chapter 14 The In Between**

_5 months later_

5 months. It had been 5 months since I had moved here, 5 months since my whole world had been turned upside down for the 2nd time in a year and in that time so much had happened that it often left my head spinning whenever I thought about it.

"I can't believe it has been that long." I whispered out loud to the dark night as I sat by myself on the cold beach watching the waves. I had slipped out of the house only 20 minutes ago to come here and even though I had to wrap myself up with a blanket to stay warm, I was glad I had come. I needed this time to myself to reflect on my life so far. It had amazed me how much things had changed in just a few months, but so far I seemed to be handling it ok.

At least in certain aspects I was. There were a few things that still suffocated me when I thought about it and pain that nearly brought me to tears when it caught up to me unexpectedly, but for the most part I was at least content at where my life was at for the moment.

And that was all thanks to Jacob Black.

I felt a smile starting to tug at my lips at the thought of my relationship to a guy who had quickly become my best friend. I never thought I would ever be able to get close to anyone ever again, let alone a guy like him. Even with the whole idea of imprinting and the knowledge that we were each others perfect match in every way possible, it still took me a while to feel comfortable with the intensity of it all. I was only 17, I had barely dated as it was and I meet Jacob and suddenly I am thrust into this relationship that will last forever. That was more then I was ready to deal with at the time and that was why I had told Jacob I needed to take things slow and approach the relationship as if none of this supernatural stuff existed. I was lucky that he understood where I had been coming from and he had no problem at all with just keeping things as normal as possible. Seeing him take my feelings into account with such grace and no resistance, it made my feelings for him grow into something more intense then I thought possible for myself.

I knew from the beginning that I cared for him, it was hard not to. He was everything that someone like me needed. He was attractive and polite and protective and was always there when I needed him to talk to. He understood me more then anyone ever had. I found myself opening up to him more and more as the months went on, finding a closeness in our relationship that I had been seeking for a while. I felt safe around him and sometimes I was even happy. He made me happy just by being there, he never had to do anything special to make my heart jump when he appeared and he always knew what to say to bring a smile to my face. Him being the first one to make me smile after my mom's death meant a lot to me and it made me realize how much surer of this relationship I was then in the beginning.

I had gradually started to open up my heart to the full brunt of my feelings for him and it nearly felt like a wall slamming into my, it was that strong. It was terrifying, but uplifting at the same time to think that I had found that this early in my life. I wasn't ready for it, but then again I don't think I ever would be even if the events that had brought me here never happened. I was just naturally a very guarded person, even from a young age. But Jacob broke through that wall in a way no one ever had before and he made a place in my heart that would forever be set aside for him. I knew that now, that I would never be without him for the rest of my life. He would always be there, a stable force in my life even if everything else was a mess. He was the calm in the storm and whenever I felt out of control or in pain, being in his arms is what soothed me. And it was also the knowledge that he would never hurt me that warmed my heart even more. Not much ever did that and with my life still filled very much with pain and anguish, I knew Jacob would be there to put my heart back together.

But one thing that even Jacob could never fix or make feel better was the pain I still felt over the loss of my mother.

I shuddered there on the cold sand, clutching the fleece blanket even tighter around me as the moonlight lit up the gently rolling waves in front of me. I felt a chill go through my body that had nothing to do with the temperature in the air. This coldness came from within, in a place deep inside of me that would forever be cold. It was an untouched part of my soul that could never be healed no matter how happy I became. My mother had owned that part of me and with her gone, a part of me was gone too.

It had been months and I still felt the sharp intake of pain whenever I thought of her. It was hard not to when I still woke up and thought that she could somehow magically walk back through the door and into my life to take me away from here. I knew that kind of thing couldn't happen despite all the magic in the world. Once a person was dead, then they were forever dead. Nothing could bring them back. But it didn't stop me from hoping that a miracle could happen. I missed her so much that I clung to that fantasy as tightly as I could. It was hurting me worse by holding on to her the way that I was, but I couldn't let go just yet. And I don't know if I ever could. She was my mom and she was always going to be a part of me. Letting her go would mean letting her memory fade away in my mind and I was not about to let that happen. I couldn't let it happen. No matter how much it pained me, I wasn't going to let go of her. I had to keep her with me.

Always.

* * *

_Flashback_

_"So I think I need to tell you something. And I don't want you to freak out, but you need to know." Jacob said this to me so fast that it almost came out incoherently as we sat together on a secluded part of the empty beach and I turned to look at him with my eyebrows raised, amused by the unusual rambling that was coming out of his mouth. He wasn't normally like this, so that raised a red flag. He looked at me with his forehead wrinkled and simply shrugged. "It's not like you haven't herd this before, but..."_

_"Oh god, you're not going to tell me you just discovered that you're also my long lost brother are you?" I asked jokingly, wanting to erase the frown on his face. I didn't like to see that look so I was willing to say anything to make him smile again. It wasn't often that Jacob looked worried so when he did, it was cause for concern. "Seriously, what's going on? I thought you told me everything."_

_"You see, the thing is that I did tell you everything. But there was one minor detail I left about about one of those things." He explained, drawing his long legs up to his chest and rested his arms on his knees while his eyes stared out at the gray sky. "It was...about the vampires."_

_"Ok..." I cocked my head to the side and frowned, wondering what else there was to know about these vampires. He had briefly told me that the reason he and my brother and all the others could turn into wolves was because that when vampires were in the area, they could fight back. But he never elaborated much more then that and he never brought it up again until now. So I was beyond curious. "Are you bringing this up because there is a vampire roaming around or something?"_

_"More like a whole family of them." He muttered, his face twisting even deeper into a frown before he turned to catch my eyes. "It's not just the fact that there are vampires passing through these areas a lot, it's more like a family of them live here in Forks."_

_"Are you serious? A group of vampires? Living here?" It was my turn to start frowning as my mind scrambled to seek out any face of anyone I had encountered in my time here to see if it could give me a clue as to whether any of them had been vampires, but I came up blank. I placed my hand on Jacob's arm to gain his attention again. "Who? Do I know them?"_

_"No I don't think so. Your brother is very adamant about keeping you out of the loop on that. He doesn't want you involved at all in that world." He explained, pressing his lips into a tight line that was evident of his inner struggle. "There has always been this animosity between vampires and werewolves for as long as anyone can remember. We are just natural enemies. But the family that lives here are not like others, they only live on animal blood and therefore the packs leave them alone as long as they stick to that. And even though we have been brought together to fight together on the same side on a few occasions, Sam still doesn't trust any vampire ad he forbids his pack from interacting with them without his say. Even though this clam of blood suckers aren't entirely bad. One of them was even my best friend before she was turned, so I still have contact with her even when the other wolves don't. None of them are willing to let down their guard, but like I said, that's natural."_

_"And you're telling me this because..."_

_"Because I don't want to keep this from you, especially on the chance that you might end up meeting one of them eventually and I don't want you to be caught off guard."_

_"I appreciate that, but if I haven't run into them by now, then I doubt I will. So don't worry about it." I told him gently, leaning against his side with my head on his shoulders. "And don't worry about me going to look for them, I have no desire to meet a vampire."_

_"You have no idea how happy that makes me." Jacob replied joyfully, before kissing my forehead..._

_End flashback_

* * *

It was this flashback about the vampires and Sam that got me into thinking about my relationship with my older brother. Or more accurately, the lack of relationship I had with him.

Not much had really changed with Sam and I in these last 5 months, I don't know what I expected to happen, but I at least thought there would be the smallest amount of improvement between us and there hasn't been. There were just so many negative aspects of our relationship that seemed to never get better no matter how much time had passed. It was just as tense and as awkward as it had been since I moved here. He and I still argued about nearly everything, even when it shouldn't have even lead to an argument but we still managed to turn almost every conversation into some kind of fight. He was mad that I still blamed him for being absent from my life and for my refusal to get close to him. He wanted so desperately to know me, but I wouldn't open up to him. I just couldn't, not when I felt like he would forever lose his temper over anything I talked about with him.

He was still in the dark about my relationship with Jacob as I had worked very hard to keep it all to myself so he wouldn't get suspicious. There were still times though when I casually mentioned Jacob in passing to Emily and Sam had to make some snide comment about it. Hence why I didn't want to come clean that I was secretly seeing Jacob. Sam would blow his lid if he found out I was still seeing Jacob and I feared it would end up in a fight of some sorts and I didn't want that. I didn't know what happened with him and Jacob, but whatever it was it still caused a lot of tension between them and the longer I kept them apart, the better. Sam just didn't need to know somethings and I wasn't just talking about Jacob.

I was talking about the fact that I had visions. Sam had no clue of my ability to see things before they happened. No one knew what I could do except for Jacob and he promised to keep it to himself and not mention it to anyone or even think about it in case his pack could stumble upon it. It was hard enough to confess this to him and I did not want anyone else to know. Especially not my brother. Things were bad enough as it was and if he were to find out what I was capable of, then I wasn't quite sure what would happen. It's not like I thought he would be scared of me, but things were already tough and adding in this would make it worse. And I couldn't handle any more bad blood with him and I. I didn't want us to drift further away from each other then we already were.

I would never admit this to anyone but myself and I only thought about it as I sat here on this empty beach this late at night, but the truth was that somewhere deep inside of me was this tiny flame of desire to have a relationship with my brother. I didn't think about it often and I wasn't entirely convinced that I wanted it, but there were rare times when I thought about what it would be like it to have a normal bond with Sam. If things weren't they way they were and we had always been in each others lives, would we ave been close? Would I have had the bond that I use to wish for when I was a kid? I didn't know and I didn't want to dwell on the what ifs, it would just torment me. Just like I couldn't think about if the future would ever change our relationship, it was too blurry and complicated to tell. So I would just have to be content with not knowing what would happen. I wasn't use to that, but I didn't have any choice.

As I was leaving the beach a few minutes later to head home, I was hit with the sense that things were about to change very soon and get more messy then they have ever been. But I couldn't see what events brought this on. It was just a gut feeling that I was going on and until a vision came to me, or it actually happened, I was going to be in the dark. And I hated being in the dark.

But then again, I hated a lot of things this year that I couldn't change and had no choice but to move on and deal with them as they came. So that's what I would do now.

**A/N: sorry for the insanely long space between chapters. I was so focused on my true blood series that i forgot about this one. But my inpsiration is back for this and I plan on giving so very exciting chapters in the near future. Things are getting complicated and juicy. It will be so good, i promise you.**


	16. The Find Out

**Chapter 15 The Find Out**

_The next day_

"So what's with the long face?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, breaking out of my haze of thoughts for the first time that afternoon and turned my head to the side and took in the sight of Jacob's tall form walking beside me on that dusty dirt road as we made our way back towards Sam's house. Jacob had met up with me when school had ended for the day and instead of driving me home like he usually did, we decided to walk. It was a perfect day for it too, not too cold and the wind was gentle for once. The sky was cloudy, like it was going to rain at some point, but not any time soon. It was as close to a perfect day as we would get here, but even that didn't really distract me from my own thoughts. And Jacob could tell since he had commented on it and I knew he would expect some kind of response. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"No that's not it. I've seen you when you're tired and this is not it. You're distracted by something." Jacob pulled me off the road and onto the grass by the tree line, his hand still on my arm when he spoke again. "Come on, just tell me what it is. Did you get into another fight with Sam?"

"For once it's not him, it's these stupid kids at school." I grumbled, allowing my bag to slide down my arm and fall to the ground before I looked up at Jacob with a frown. "Do you think I'm weird?"

"Of course not." He exclaimed as if that idea was so absurd that it was unimaginable. His hand left my arm and came up to brush my hair back from my face, tucking it behind my ears. "Is that what people are saying to your face?"

"And behind my back and to other people and shouting it down the hallways when I walk by." I sighed heavily at the thought of the way people were treating me. It was always the same thing every day and I suppose that was a good thing since I knew what to expect. But it was torture having to wake up every morning and go to school, knowing I was going to be made fun of. And it was always the same people. Those 3 blonde girls who had followed me down the hall the first week of school, bumping into me had been at the helm of the teasing. They seemed to get a lot of pleasure for saying hurtful things to me and the more I tried to ignore them, the harsher they got. It was starting to get to me. I met Jacob's eyes again and shrugged my dainty shoulders. "I don't even know what I do to deserve this. I'm quiet, I study hard and I keep to myself. No one besides you knows about my secret. So how does that add up to me being weird?"

"You were the new girl, people like to pick on the new kid at school. People are just vicious that's all." He said gently, his dark eyes practically smiling down at me as he leaned forward and pressed his lips against my forehead. "It will get better, I promise you it will."

"Yea, once the year is over and I don't have to see these idiots for an entire summer." I grumbled, leaning down to grab my bag and flung it over my shoulder. "I can handle it until then. It's not like I haven't heard this kind of stuff before."

"People don't know what they're talking about, you're not weird in the slightest." Jacob insisted with that goofy smile of his as he took my hand when we started to walk again. "And besides, it's more normal to be different these days so I say you are just on the right track."

"Well I'm glad to have your approval and opinion on this matter." I shook my head when a girlish grin threatened to take over my face, that reaction was becoming more and more usual these days when I was around him. It was nice to have a few moments when I could actually smile and mean it. It gave me that break that I was seeking and I was grateful for it. "I'm glad that we..."

"Well look at what we have here. The happy couple in the flesh." A deep sounding male voice came out of the tree line next to me and both Jacob and I jumped as a tall, dark haired figure emerged that I immediately recognized as Paul. I had only come across him a few times in the last few months, but I would know that cocky grin and those mischievous eyes anywhere. I moved closer to Jacob's side when Paul joined us on the grass, looking over us with a smirk that made me uneasy. "I have to say, I'm kind of surprised to see you two together."

"And why is that exactly?" Jacob asked calmly but a glance at his face told me that he was very well aware what Paul was getting at, but it was safer to pretend to be in the dark.

"Oh don't pretend like you don't know because I know you do. Sam has told the pack how he made it very clear about the two of you staying away from each other. And yet...here you both are, together. Coincidence? I think not." Paul's smirk got even wider as he looked at us, crossing his arms as he spoke as if he was just daring one of us to say something to the contrary. "How long has this been going on?"

"Nothing's going on. We just ran into each other, that's all." I spoke up even though I kept my eyes down on the ground. I didn't like confrontation and this situation was making me feel uncomfortable. "It would have been rude to just walk away..."

"No, actually lying to your brother is what is really rude." Paul cut in, sounding smug to the point where I looked up to find him not looking at me, but at Jacob. These two obviously had friction between them and that was evident by the way they were beginning to glare at one another. "It's very clear what's going on..."

"Paul, do not start. Ok? You don't know a thing." Jacob's voice got heavy with annoyance and he actually stepped forward with his hands clenching into fists as if he were only seconds away from losing his temper. "Just walk away and pretend like you never saw us. Don't turn this into something that its not."

"I think you already did that." Paul shot back arrogantly, looking and sounding more menacing then he actually was. He too moved closer to Jacob, getting right up into his face to the point where their noses were almost touching. "I would be careful about who you throw that attitude at. I'm still part of Sam's pack and I could very well report back to him about this if you don't watch yourself."

"That sounds like a threat."

"Take it how ever you want it, but it's more of a warning."

"Ok, that's enough. You both need to stop it." I had to interject before this swiftly spun out of control. I knew what would happen if either of them lost their tempers and I was this close to them when they phased. I could end up like Emily or even worse. So this needed to end before it went further. And that's what led me to grabbing Jacob by the arm and starting to tug him away away from Paul. "We are leaving now!"

"That's right, lead the puppy away before he gets himself even more in trouble." Paul stated as Jacob and I turned our backs on him and hurried away. Paul didn't follow us, but a look over our shoulder showed that he was still there, watching us with a self satisfied smirk that left me feeling nervous about what he could say to Sam. If he wanted to, he could go right to my brother and say what he saw and then it could all be over. I don't know if that would be enough proof to convince Sam of my secret relationship but it would certainly arouse suspicion.

And that was just as bad.

* * *

_10 minutes later_

"Ok, now its my turn to ask what's wrong." Quinn's hesitant voice broke through the swarm of thoughts in his head and brought him back out into the present where he found her looking up at him, just inside the tree line on the edge of the yard surrounding her brother's house. Things had been quiet between them since they escaped from Paul and neither had the courage to break that silence, at least until now. "Seriously, say something because I'm worried about what's going on inside your head."

"It's nothing." Jacob hated lying to her, but he didn't want to say what was on his mind because he knew she wouldn't like it. So it was probably for the best if he just pretend like it was all ok. "Nothing's wrong."

"Don't lie to me." She said, reaching out with her small hand to wrap her fingers around his arm to shake him. "I feel like I really know you and I just have this feeling that you are still shaken up by running into Paul. So just tell me what you're thinking, I doubt its something I can't handle."

"Trust me it's not something you're going to want to hear." Jacob found himself sighing heavily as he struggled to regain his even temper from earlier when they had met up. He didn't want to be in a bad mood around Quinn but running into Paul so suddenly had thrown him off balance and he didn't like it when things caught him by surprise. So it was taking him some time to return to his normal temperament and that had been preceded by a lonely silence. He looked down at Quinn's delicate face with her sky blue eyes wide with concern and he shook his head. "But after what just happened, I think we need to come clean about everything."

"You want us to go and tell Sam we have been secretly seeing each other for the past 5 months behind his back even after he has stated how he feels about this relationship? Are you kidding me?" Quinn stepped back from him with her pretty little mouth hanging open in disbelief. "I mean, you have to be if you actually said that with a straight face."

"I'm being serious. I really think we ought to tell Sam what's going on. Because if we don't, then there is a good chance that Paul will go to him and start trouble by telling him what he saw today and you know your brother. He will confront us both if he suspects even the tiniest bit." Jacob explained to her, his eyes darting towards the house to keep a look out in case Sam suddenly came home while they were talking. He refused to be caught off guard for a second time. "Don't get me wrong, I know he will be pissed either way. But maybe he will be more open to it if we come to him first instead of continuing to hide."

"Jacob, open your eyes. Sam is never going to accept us no matter what, he made that perfectly clear months ago." Quinn grumbled, crossing her arms stiffly as her face tightened almost in misery and he was hit with the urge to close the distance between them and hold her in his arms. But before he could move, she spoke again. "He will never come to terms with us being together and that's why I think we need to hold off a little longer."

"If he's never going to accept us, then why should we wait? Let's just tell him now so we can stop sneaking around like we're shamed of this. I don't want to act like our relationship is something to feel guilty about because its not." He stated with conviction, feeling all the certainty behind his words as he said them. He had never been a big fan of keeping this a secret, but out o respect for Quinn's feelings, he had gone along with it all these months because its what she wanted. And she already had it hard enough that he didn't want to make things worse by going against their plan. But now it was different. Now things were getting tense and it wouldn't be long before more people besides Paul saw them together. It was a miracle he had been the first one in all these months. "He's going to find out eventually. And the longer we wait to tell him, the worse it will be. And you know that."

"Yea but the thought of telling my brother about us is terrifying. I can barely talk to him about the weather and even that ends up in an argument. Things are already bad between him and I. Can you imagine what this will do if we tell him now?" Quinn questioned, her face holding a pleading look as if begging him to stick to the plan and he wanted to say he would because he wanted to make her happy. But he just didn't feel right about staying silent any more. "Can't we just wait until things are better with Sam? I'll tell him about us once things start to lighten up with..."

"And when will that be? The first of never?" Jacob found himself snapping, a flash of annoyance going through him at her stubbornness. He didn't mean to sound so harsh but that's exactly how it came out and he saw the flinch that went through her when he spoke. "I'm sorry but, you have said yourself that things aren't getting better and they probably never will. So it just seems like you're using this as an excuse to put it off for longer."

"It's not an excuse! I can't believe you would even say that." Quinn's face quickly went from an expression of annoyance to one of hurt and he immediately felt ashamed for putting that look there. He went to reach out for her but she stepped further away from him, just out of reach. She looked at him for a second and then over her shoulder at the house before her eyes were on him again. "Look, I'm going to go inside before we end up fighting. I'll talk to you later."

"Quinn wait." Jacob called out as soon as she started moving out of the treeline towards the house but at the sound of his voice, she paused to turn around to look at him with her eyebrows raised. He didn't want things to end like this with them. She may have said this was to avoid a fight, but things already felt tense between them and if he didn't fix it, then it could fester. "Don't be mad at me. I didn't mean for that to come out the way it had. I'm just on edge, that's all."

"It's ok Jacob, I understand." She sent him a sort of half smile that suggested she was still miffed by his comment but she wasn't as irked by it as he may have thought. She continued moving towards the house while saying. "I'm not mad, I promise you I'm not. We'll talk later."

But as he watched her leave him, he still couldn't help but think he had crossed some kind of line.

* * *

_2 hours later_

"Sam? Why are you sitting there with that look on your face?" Emily's voice came at him from the direction of the kitchen and he turned in his chair at the dining room table to looked across the room and see his fiance staring at him with a frown on her lips. She tossed down the towel that had been on her shoulder and came walking towards him with her arms crossed. "Is something wrong?"

"Not really, I'm just kind of contemplating something." He murmured, biting on the inside of his mouth as the thoughts swirled around in his mind like they had been for the past few hours. He looked at Emily, who had taken a seat at the head of the table and asked. "If I asked you something, would you tell me the truth?"

"It depends on the nature of the question and whether or not my answer would hurt someone." She replied easily, sitting back with a gentle smile on her lips. "I wouldn't intentionally withhold the truth from you, but you know I want to protect people and if my answer would hurt them then I won't say it."

"I figured that would be your answer." Sam had to smile at this response because it was so like Emily to say something like that. It was one of the things he loved about her, her ability to want to be protective over everyone. It was nice but this time he didn't need nice. He needed an answer and he was hoping Emily would give it to him. "But I honestly need you to tell me the truth...about Quinn."

"What about Quinn?" Emily asked without missing a beat and if it had been someone else questioning her, they wouldn't have assumed a thing was wrong. But Sam knew her all too well and despite the calm tone in her voice and the neutral expression, he saw her eyebrow twitch ever so slightly and that indicated that perhaps she may know something.

"What's going on with her? And don't pretend like it's nothing because I know its something. She's been quiet and withdrawn and she keeps to herself a lot. That makes me suspicious." Sam recounted his reasons to her, knowing that somewhere in that list was something to raise the alarm. He just knew in his gut that Quinn was up to something and obviously she wasn't going to come to him and talk. But she would talk to Emily. Sam eyed his fiancee intently. "What do you know?"

"I probably know as much as you do, which is not a lot. All I ever see her do is go to school, do her homework and sometimes take a walk on the beach. She doesn't even really have any friends that she hands out with. I don't see how any of that constitutes as suspicious behavior." Emily rolled her eyes at him in the exact way that said she thought he was being crazy. "Come on, she's not doing anything wrong. You're just being paranoid."

"I am not!"

"Yes you are. You're trying to make something out of nothing. So just tell me exactly what you're getting at."

"I think she's still seeing Jacob." Sam said abruptly, deciding to just stop with the crap and say what he was thinking this whole time. "I don't know why I think that because I haven't seen them together, but I just have this feeling."

"And that's where your paranoia comes back in." Emily shook her head like she thought this was all some kind of big joke. "You just said you haven't seen them together and now you want to go off a feeling? Are you serious?"

"Don't make fun of me, I was being serious." Sam snapped, watching his future wife just roll her eyes again as she got up from the table. "Hey where are you going? This conversation isn't over."

"It is for me because I have things to do and this little talk is going nowhere." Emily told him, moving towards the staircase with an almost bemused expression on her face. "Just relax already and stop questioning everything."

Sam waited until she had completely disappeared upstairs before he allowed a frown to take over his face. He didn't care what Emily said, he knew he wasn't being paranoid. This feeling he had inside of him was not wrong. He had enough of these feelings over the years to know when he was right and this time was one of them. He thought maybe she would have given him more of something to go off of but she hadn't. And if he wanted information, he was going to have to go somewhere else for it. Or at least, talk to someone else.

He got up from the table and walked into the living room where the room was and when he was sure Emily was busy in the bedroom doing something, he quickly dialed a number and waited for the line to be picked up. It didn't take long and when he heard a voice answer only a few seconds later, he charged ahead with his intent.

"Paul, its Sam. I need to ask you something very important..."

* * *

_45 minutes later_

"Wow, I'm surprised you actually showed up."

I lifted my head up from the spot on the beach I was staring at and turned to see Jacob strolling towards me with his hands in his pockets and a pretty neutral expression on his face. I had gotten a call from him only 20 minutes ago asking if I would meet him here on the beach so we could talk and against my initial feeling of just saying no, I decided to come anyway. I had to be sneaky about it though because I couldn't have Sam thinking I was up to no good. So when he was busy doing something in the backyard, I quietly went downstairs and disappeared out the front door before I could talk myself out of it. I cut through the woods fairly easily and when I arrived on the beach, I had found it to be completely empty and void of any life. So I settled on the cool sand and watched the waves crash at the shoreline while I waited for Jake to show up. I had only been maybe 5 or 10 minutes before he appeared and I was back on my feet to face him.

"I had to show up, you made it sound kind of important." I replied, tucking my loose hair behind my ears as we stood facing each other awkwardly. It wasn't the kind of tension that came from having a fight, it was from having a near fight which was almost worse because at least in a fight, the frustration came out and you would get over it quicker. This was not like that at all. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I really need to apologize for what I said to you earlier, that's wasn't fair to call you out on trying to use your problems with Sam as an excuse not to confess to our relationship. That was rude of me to say and I'm sorry." Jacob's face scrunched up as if he wasn't use to having to apologize. But as uncomfortable as he looked, I knew him well know to know that he was being sincere. He wouldn't have brought it up if he wasn't genuine. "I didn't mean be a jerk to you. It just came out."

"I won't lie to you, I was kind of annoyed that you would say that, but I'm honestly not mad. Just frustrated that you're frustrated." I almost laughed at this and I wasn't even sure why. But the one good thing that came from it was that it sort of dissolved the tension in the air. And when Jacob looked me in the eye, I actually moved towards him so I could wrap my arms around his waist. "I know its been hard with all this sneaking around all these months and I know we can't do it forever, but I just feel uneasy about admitting it right now. I mean, you saw how my brother was before we were even together. Can you imagine how its going to be when he finds out we have been dating for 5 months?"

"Well, I wouldn't call sneaking around all this time dating. It's more like hiding in the woods or on the beach and making out. Which is just as much fun." Jacob said jokingly, his lips twitching up into a smirk as his hands came up top my face. "But eventually I would like to be able to come to your house to pick you up and take you out on an actual date. I don't want to have to keep on sneaking out and acting like this is something to be ashamed of."

"You have no idea how much I don't want it to be like that either. I don't want to keep on hiding, it's so damn stressful." I shook my head with a heavy sigh. I truly did want to come clean about all this. The burden of constantly having to watch what I said and did around my brother was starting to irk me. It wasn't going to be good for either of us mentally or physically. Eventually it will start to affect us and that could be in a bad way. I didn't want that but the alternative of telling my brother? Now that was even worse. "But as tough as keeping this a secret is, telling Sam about it is tougher. And it really worries me to think of how he will react."

"He's not going to react positively, we know that. But he's not going to completely freak out and do something stupid like hurt one of us. You know that right?" Jacob's hands cupped my face, keeping our eyes locked together for the moment. "Look, Sam is a hot head, but he's not an idiot. And he would never hurt you intentionally. He's your brother, he loves you."

"He has a funny way of showing it sometimes." I grumbled, rolling my eyes at the thought of Sam. I knew deep down that his reactions to me and Jacob were just out of that older brother protectiveness gene that he obviously had. And if Sam and I hadn't been strangers most of our lives then maybe it would have made me more understanding. But the fact was that Sam and I were strangers and our constant arguing made it extremely hard to be open to admitting to the one thing that was guaranteed to blow his lid. "I get where you're coming from, I really do. But Sam is just..."

"Just what?" A deep voice interrupted me in mid sentence from the direction of the beach behind us and as soon as we both heard it, we froze in place as Sam's furious face came stalking towards us.


End file.
